The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks

I still can't believe how amazing this is.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (aka HeLa): The history and ethics of research on human biological materials

Henrietta Lacks, known to scientists as HeLa, 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 effects of the atom bomb; 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.

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. 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. For more information, visit www.rebeccaskloot.com

§ See a full description of the book here: http://www.rebeccaskloot.com.

§ Also see the author's blog to learn more about the book and the author’s approach.

§ Listen to Ms. Skloot's interviews on NPR's on Fresh Air and Science Friday.

§ The New York Times featured the book here and reviewed it here.

§ Read an excerpt from the book here.