Nancy A. (Chocoholic) reviewed on 6/1/2011 + 291 more book reviews

In February 1951, a black woman named Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cancer. Some of those cancer cells were cultured and grown in a lab, and ultimately created a cottage industry in tissue farming and research. Though Henrietta passed away in the 1950's, her family never knew that her cells still lived on in labs around the world. This is the story of Henrietta, but it's also a larger story about the family she left behind, and how they coped with her loss, and about how they learned that her cells were still alive and well. This is an intriguing and compelling read, never boring, and never too technical. The author, Rebecca Skloot spent a large amount of time getting to know the Lacks family and researching the biological history of Henrietta's cells and manages to tell the story quite well without ever talking down to the reader. She raises some interesting questions and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions. I would heartily recommend this!

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