The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

Jan 2011 · Picador Classic Book 79 · Pan Macmillan

About this ebook

A heartbreaking account of a medical miracle: how one woman’s cells – taken without her knowledge – have saved countless lives. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a true story of race, class, injustice and exploitation.

‘No dead woman has done more for the living . . . A fascinating, harrowing, necessary book.’ – Hilary Mantel, Guardian

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Born a poor black tobacco farmer, her cancer cells – taken without her knowledge – became a multimillion-dollar industry and one of the most important tools in medicine. Yet Henrietta’s family did not learn of her ‘immortality’ until more than twenty years after her death, with devastating consequences . . .

Rebecca Skloot’s moving account is the story of the life, and afterlife, of one woman who changed the medical world forever. Balancing the beauty and drama of scientific discovery with dark questions about who owns the stuff our bodies are made of, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an extraordinary journey in search of the soul and story of a real woman, whose cells live on today in all four corners of the world.

Now an HBO film starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne.

Ratings and reviews

I remember reading about the HeLa cell line in several research journals, I knew some poor person had to have developed cancer for the line to exist but knew nothing of the origin of the cells. I found this book very sad, the suffering endured by Henrietta and later by her family, particularly Deborah as she attempted to know her long dead mother and sister was hard hitting. Skloot did a brilliant job of re-creating the past and presenting it as a personal story. I'd recommend this book as required reading for anyone interested/involved in medical research/ oncology. It makes me wonder about the origin of cancer cell lines I have used, who suffered to establish SW480? For me, This human story is a illustrative for the whole point of medical science, and the greed that inhibits progress.

Read this. Anyone whose life has ever been touched by cancer, anyone who has ever taken any medicine, ever, owes it to people like henrietta that such drugs even exist. This is absolutely fascinating. What could have been a really dry subject comes alive with expert handling. This book has really started me thinking about the processesand people who took medicine to where it is today and about how our decisions re medication trials, organ donation etc can help develop safe medicine for tomorrow. Also got me thinking about who owns you, your waste, your information etc. A great read. Very worthwhile.

A must read for anyone involoved in health or research. It is a thoughtful reminder of the people behind progress. You leave the book with no clear or easy answers about medical ethics, but a much deeper appreciation of sacrifices and people involved. You will come to understand that ethical breaches are usually good people- doing not so good things (often unknowingly)- for very good reasons. Bless Henrietta and her family and the researchers who have saved countless lives.

About the author

Rebeca Skloot is the author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and an award-winning science writer whose articles have appeared in the New York Times Magazine and O, the Oprah Magazine, among others. She has worked as a correspondent for NPR’s RadioLab and PBS’s Nova ScienceNOW, and blogs about science, life, and writing at Culture Dish, hosted by Seed magazine. She also teaches creative nonfiction at the University of Memphis.