The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Summary and book reviews of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, plus links to an excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and a biography of Rebecca Skloot.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
Hardcover: Feb 2010,
368 pages.
Paperback: Mar 2011,
400 pages.
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.
Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.
Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia — a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo — to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells.
Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family — past and present — is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.
Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah, who was devastated to learn about her mother’s cells. She was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Did it hurt her when researchers infected her cells with viruses and shot them into space? What happened to her sister, Elsie, who died in a mental institution at the age of fifteen? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance?
Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.
Some of the recent comments posted about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Join the discussion! You can see the full discussion here.
Do you always thoroughly read consent forms before signing them?
I don't understand the reluctance of some people to agree to the use of their tissue samples, whether for research purposes or just for diagnostic purposes. If anything from my tissues can be used to help someone else, then why not? The samples... - kageeh
Do you own your own tissue samples?
I never really thought about it. I wouldn't mind my tissue samples being used for the benefit of all but do have a problem with them being used for greed. I think I would want to know if they were being used for commercial purposes. There can be a... - bettyt
Is it possible to approach history from an objective point of view?
In general, I think in terms of writing about historical events is often subjective for the reasons already mentioned. In respect to this book, I think the author tried to present the information objectively. I work in the health care field also... - jknapp
Overall, what did you think of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks?
I could only get about halfway through it. But I got the jist of the story and was shocked to hear that Ms. Lacks was treated as she was and that it took this long to inform the public. The family should be given everything possible as recompense. - Sweet Sue
What caused Henrietta's cells to survive when others didn't?
There's a great book about the serendipity of many medical discoveries called "Happy Accidents" - http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/1957/happy-accidents which illustrates many examples relating to dianel's comment - as... - davinamw
What impact did the decision to maintain speech authenticity have on the story?
I have to agree that reproducing the distinct dialect of the people written about is very important to the impact of the story. I recently read a book for book club that was a non-fiction account of a poor black man in the deep South erroneously... - kageeh
Skloot strikes a tricky balance between inserting herself into the narrative and stepping back to let the Lacks family, the heart and soul of the book, tell their stories. For the most part she succeeds... Just as she brings dignity to the individuals who make scientific investigation possible, she also expertly lays out the pros and cons of the current tissue research debate... an engaging introduction to these issues, one that hooks the reader with its emphasis on the real people behind the controversy. (Reviewed by Marnie Colton).
The Washington Post - Eric Roston
Skloot's vivid account…reads like a novel. The prose is unadorned, crisp and transparent…This book, labeled "science--cultural studies," should be treated as a work of American history.
The Seattle Times
[A] fast read even at 300+ pages, [this book] not only restores Lacks' humanity but appears to have brought a measure of peace to her troubled family. It's as much an act of justice as one of journalism.
The New York Times
[O]ne of the most graceful and moving nonfiction books I’ve read in a very long time... It has brains and pacing and nerve and heart, and it is uncommonly endearing.
Entertainnment Weekly
I could not put the book down... Through Lacks, the story of modern medicine and bioethics — and, indeed, race relations — is refracted beautifully, and movingly. A.
The New Yorker
This extraordinary account shows us that miracle workers, believers, and con artists populate hospitals as well as churches, and that even a science writer may find herself playing a central role in someone else’s mythology.
Chicago Sun-Times
[A] tour-de-force debut... an important book, one that will linger — like Henrietta’s cells — long after you’ve turned the last page.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Letting people and events speak for themselves, Skloot tells a rich, resonant tale of modern science, the wonders it can perform and how easily it can exploit society's most vulnerable people.
Booklist
Starred Review. [A] truly astonishing story of racism and poverty, science and conscience, spirituality and family driven by a galvanizing inquiry into the sanctity of the body and the very nature of the life force.
Library Journal
Starred Review. While there are other titles on this controversy ... this is the most compelling account for general readers, especially those interested in questions of medical research ethics. Highly recommended.
Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks brings to mind the work of Philip K. Dick and Edgar Allan Poe. But this tale is true. Rebecca Skloot explores the racism and greed, the idealism and faith in science that helped to save thousands of lives but nearly destroyed a family. This is an extraordinary book, haunting and beautifully told.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Aem Henrietta Lacks This story was beautifully written it kept me captivated as I read through it. I found it to be informational and very interesting. There wasn't a time where i was reading I thought it was boring. The way she brought Henrietta to life on the pages... Read More
Rated of 5
by Malcolm great book Rebecca Skloot touches on issues that still are burning questions in medical research today. Through the story of a family who lost a member named Henrietta Lacks - a mother, wife, and cousin - to cervical cancer. The doctors took a tissue sample... Read More
Rated of 5
by CarolK Outstanding blend of Science & History This has been on my TBR list for most of 2010.I knew I wanted to read it as soon as I heard it involved The HeLa Cells. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I had heard about these famous cells taken from an African American woman diagnosed with... Read More
Rated of 5
by Karen R Interesting and Enlightening I recommend this to those who like history and science. The author is to be praised for her exhaustive research into the history of HeLa cells and how they've made an impact on lives around the world. Interesting and enlightening. However, my... Read More
Rated of 5
by Dorothy T. Excellent on several levels The author spent much time and exhaustive effort to put together a true story that at times moves along like fiction, and presented characters that had me totally engaged. I loved how the science was told with detail that would satisfy... Read More
Rated of 5
by Nancy Needler, Research Subject Advocate HeLa cell line: Would Henrietta have minded this immortality? This book was read with enthusiasm from start to finish. The author brilliantly, yet informally, used family memories, historical documents, pictures, medical professional interviews, and her own interpretations to bring into light the actual life... Read More
Cervical cancer, the disease that killed Henrietta Lacks, strikes 11,000-13,000 women in the United States every year, killing 4,000. While the Pap smear (developed by Greek scientist Georgio Papanikolaou) remains the most widely used and effective method for detecting pre-cancerous cells on the cervix, a new vaccine protects women from developing certain kinds of human papillomavirus (HPV), the condition that causes most cervical cancers. Yet controversy swirls around this vaccine in the United States, raising ethical issues such as whether to require mandatory vaccination for girls entering school and sparking fears that vaccinations might reduce the practice of safer sex methods or even lead to promiscuity. Others worry that the vaccine has been rushed to market without enough testing.
The Internet has proven both a blessing and a curse for disseminating information, especially health-based information: although it has made previously esoteric knowledge instantly available, the Internet has also allowed an outpouring of individual opinions that may counter unbiased...
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(1173 words).
Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation
of 5
by Aem
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