The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010) by Rebecca Skloot. In this remarkable book, Skloot traces the story of Henrietta Lacks and her family -- who are notable for the fact that the HeLa line of cells, used by laboratories all over the world, came from Henrietta in 1951. Her cells were taken from her without her consent, and proved unusually prolific. In fact, the line of cells taken from Henrietta Lacks has continued to divide and multiply, and has never died out. This makes it extremely valuable for research. Amazingly, the Lacks family -- Henrietta's survivors -- were never informed that her cells were taken, nor were they told how valuable the are. In this book we get both stories -- the scientific story of the HeLa cell line, and what it has been used for, and the emotional story of the Lacks family and what they have gone through on account of being misinformed about Henrietta's involuntary contribution to science. It's not always an easy read, but it is a rewarding one, and Skloot deserves high praise for her decade-long effort to research and write the book. Grade: A-