The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks

The Resource The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Label
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Statement of responsibility
Rebecca Skloot
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, 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. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer and viruses; helped lead to in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks is buried in an unmarked grave. Her family did not learn of her "immortality" until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. The story of the Lacks family 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--From publisher description
Awards note
Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Nonfiction, 2010; Wellcome Trust Book Prize, 2010.
Cataloging source
DLC
Dewey number
616.9940092
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • portraits
Index
index present
LC call number
RC265.6.L24
LC item number
S55 2011
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
NLM call number
WO 690
NLM item number
S628i 2011

Context

Context of The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks

Work of

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