The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

HeLa cells, a line of immortal human cells, have a long and murky scientific past. They also have an important human in their past, Henrietta Lacks. This new book, by a woman who grew up in Portland, explores both stories.

The following is a thoughtful review by sophomore Ilana:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is not a science book, nor is it a book about the people who study science. It is about the rest of the people. Those who depend on science, and on whom science depends: the people who require and test the solutions science promises, and the ways in which they are often not given the chance to be involved in scientific studies on their own terms, in part because they have not had the education to be able to understand the information which would make up “informed consent”. The topic of the book is the mass of cells which Henrietta’s cancer biopsy has grown over the last 50 years and the medical advances those cells have enabled, but the point of the book is to not be a science article to add to the 60,000+ (Skloot, p.312) articles concerning the cells which have already been published. The point of the book is to tell the story of Henrietta in human terms in equal parts a way for her family to come to terms and to an understanding of what was done and why her cells are famous, and recognition of all of the unnamed people whose bodies have contributed to scientific achievement. Read this book to learn about the horrific clinical trials and inspiring scientific discoveries. Read this book glimpse the technicalities which have limited the abilities of lawyers to enact informed consent laws and to be awed by the life Henrietta’s daughter displays even after a childhood of abuse. This is a people book to be recommended for its scientific value and its capacity to spark interest in fields from reporter, to lawyer, to scientist to human rights activist, and, if for no other reason, to carry on the legacy of the person Henrietta who unknowingly gave her genes to scientific progress.