Scan barcode
A review by celestesbookshelf
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
5.0
There is a line of cells called HeLa, for (He)nrietta (La)cks. This immortal line of cells was taken without Lacks’ consent in 1951 from Johns Hopkins Medical Center, where she was receiving care for a very aggressive form of cervical cancer. The cells have been used extensively in research to eradicate polio, develop HPV vaccines, and genome mapping to name a few contributions. All of this without Lacks or her family receiving any credit or monetary compensation. Skloot did extensive research and communicated with Lacks’ children and cousins to unearth this historical wrong.