The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a riveting account of a life that combines elements of racial issues, medicine and medical ethics as well as questions about the meaning of immortality and a family struggling to understand their mother's legacy.
Unbeknownst to her, Henrietta Lacks (1920-1951) changed the world through her contributions to biomedical research. Lacks was a poor African-American woman who was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital beginning in 1951 for cervical cancer. She died that same year, but prior to her death her doctor removed two samples of Henrietta's cervix, a healthy part and a cancerous part, without her permission or even her knowledge.
Her doctor gave the cells to Dr. George Otto Gey, a biomedical researcher. These cells eventually became the HeLa (Henrietta Lacks) Immortal cell line. Prior to the use of Lacks' cells, cell lines used for research would die out within a few days and had to continuously be replaced. Henrietta Lacks' cells were the first that scientists could keep alive and grow. The HeLa cells are the most commonly used cells in research, and are still being used today.
According to author Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta Lacks' cells were vital to the development of the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization. Her cells have been bought and sold millions of times the world over, and yet her children remain in poverty and cannot afford health insurance.
Skloot learned about the HeLa cells in a high school science class and her interest was piqued. After completing college, she spent the next decade researching Henrietta Lacks and in the process became close to the surviving members of the Lacks family, particularly Henrietta's eldest daughter, Deborah. The Lacks family remained impoverished and uneducated, and had trouble understanding the meaning of their mother's immortality, while also feeling that the doctors had stolen from them, in more ways than one.
Rebecca Skloot has a B.S. in biological sciences and an MFA in creative nonfiction. She has taught creative writing and science journalism at the University of Memphis, the University of Pittsburgh, and New York University, and has been published in several scientific journals and mainstream magazines. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is her first book, has won several awards and has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for two years. In 2011, the book won the Audie Award for Best Non-Fiction Audiobook.