The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Who would have thought that a book about cell culture could be so enjoyable. Believe me, I was skeptical.
The book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who showed up at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951 with an aggressive case of cervical cancer. Two samples were taken from her cervix, and the cells from these tissue samples became one of the greatest breakthroughs in cell culture history: the world’s first immortal human cell line.
The cells were unprecedented in their ability to grow and provided advances ranging from the polio vaccine, to gene mapping, to in vitro fertilization.  Henrietta’s cells have been blown up by nuclear bombs to test the effects of radiation, and sent into outer space to monitor the effects of zero gravity.  But, despite the huge importance of HeLa, not much was known about Henrietta Lacks the woman.
Her family knew even less about Henrietta’s contribution to the world. Although the cells were taken in 1951, the year she died, her husband and five children knew nothing about it. They didn’t find out until 20 years later.
The author manages to make this book a book with multiple interesting stories - a poor young woman from southern Virginia whose cervical cells would change the world; a girl who yearns to know who her mother was; researchers and their amazing scientific advancements; a family that sought to understand how someone could be dead and yet immortal.

Everyone can enjoy this book, whether you are scientifically minded or not, it is very readable and amazingly interesting.




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