I Just Read… The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

--by Hanje Richards

Admittedly, I am a bit of a science geek. Which is not to say I am a scientist. I am interested in lots of science writing, but only a certain percentage of it is written at a level that I can understand. I often start a book with a scientific theme and have to admit, a few pages in, that I am lost and that I may never find my way back. Sometimes, I find a book that is just a tiny bit over my level, and I persevere, hoping I will be able to rise to the occasion. And sometimes, I find a book that is written for a layperson like me who is fascinated by science but not educated in the field.

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was fascinating and written for people like me. There were only a few places where I was unable to keep pace with it but, for the most part, it is a very readable, totally gripping story of a woman, some cells, her family, her life, and her death. It is beautifully written and researched, and I highly recommend it.

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Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She 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.

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If you could pile all the 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 atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

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Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

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Author Rebecca Skloot is a science writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; Discover; Prevention; Glamour; and other publications. Skloot has taught nonfiction in the creative writing programs at the University of Memphis and the University of Pittsburgh, and science journalism at New York University’s Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program. She blogs about science, life, and writing at Culture Dish, hosted by Seed magazine.

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This is her first book.