The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks
By Rebecca Skloot
Henrietta Lacks has
been in outer space and attached to an atom bomb but how is this possible when
the woman died in 1951? This is a biography of the woman who changed the world
after she died; it is a terrific blend of biography and science telling the
story of He.La. the cells that were removed from Henrietta Lacks when she went
into Johns Hopkins complaining of a lump in her abdomen, once they were studied
it turned out that the cells continued to multiply and grow allowing researchers
for years to make incredible breakthroughs in science.
Rebecca Skloot
immerses us completely not just with the science of cell study but also the
life of Henrietta and even her children in the years after her death. The
things her family went through after Henrietta’s death are horrible but, I
cannot help but feel thankful for the woman whose death made the polio vaccine possible,
helped with advances in in vitro fertilization, and even gene mapping. This is
definitely worth the read to know how much was sacrificed in the process and to
be able to fully appreciate He.La.
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This reads like a teaser. I want more. :-)
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