Susan B. reviewed on 4/18/2010

Helpful Score: 2

The first and only time I ever heard the name Henrietta Lacks, or "HeLa cells" was a brief mention in my college biology class in the 1970s. Author Rebecca Skloot, through extensive research and years of interviews with those who knew her, brings Henrietta to life: an African-American wife and mother who died in 1951 of a particularly aggressive form of cervical cancer. Samples taken of her tumor were unique at the time: they continued to live and reproduce indefinitely. With "HeLa" cells a multimillion-dollar industry was launched, and Henrietta's cells have been involved in almost every major medical breakthrough in the last 50 years. This is also the story of Lacks and her family, who knew nothing about the cells or the millions of dollars made from them,until many years later. The book combines history and science to explore racism,and bioethics in the second half of the 20th century,and ends on an uplifting note. It's a fascinating and very readable book, and is definitely worth the time.

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