The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

 This is my favourite kind of popular science (”pop science”) book: one which takes a scientific topic, and then explores the lives of the people close to it. Being a bio-scientist, I don’t particlarly want to read the precise scientific details of HeLa cells in my spare time. But mix some of that science with the origin story of the cell line, as well as the life of the woman it came from? Yes please!

If you’ve done any bioscience degree or worked with cell lines, you’ve probably heard of HeLa cells. They’re an extremely ubiquitous immortalised cell line, described quite rightly as he “workhorse” of early scientific discoveries. Insulin, vaccines, cancer therapies, drugs against HIV were all tested initially on HeLa cells, and even today they continue to be used for a huge variety of scientific studies. In today’s world of easily-accessable cell lines we tend to take them for granted, but before the discovery of HeLa cells, there were no human cells that you could grow in culture forever.

The book covers the life of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman from Virginia in the US, who suffered from cervical cancer. Her check-up at the Johns Hopkins Hospital co-incided with a mission by now-famous scientist, George Gey. He ran a research lab at the hospital and was trying to find a way to grow human cells in culture without them dying, a feat which at the time was considered impossible. As part of his mission, Gey instructed that every biopsy taken from suspected cancer patients in the hospital would be sent to his lab. Henietta was one such patient, and the biopsy from her cervial cancer would ultimately give rise to the most common human cell line on earth, HeLa.

The book touches on some very poignant issues, such as racism and patient consent. It also discusses the struggles of Henietta’s family, who were essentially impoverished. They felt a great amount of injustice from the fact that pharmaceutical companies went on to make billions from Henrietta’s cells without her consent, while Henrietta and the family didn’t see a dime.

Utimately, the book explores the people around the creation of HeLa cells, potentially one of the most important scientific discoveres ever. The personal take on this truly elevantes the book, and I would highly reccommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in cell biology.

I pray Mrs. Lacks' family received some of this book's profits.

I thought this owuld just be about HeLa cells, but it's about trust in the medical establishment, family, and storytellers. (And it IS also about HeLa cells.)

A must-read because it's a good story, and also because you owe it to Henrietta.

Wow! This book has opened my eyes to so many things! I mean, not only is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks engaging and amazing story of this family who has gone through so much, but it also educates you about the medical research field. We all marvel when they find the cure for this or new information about viruses or cancer, but we never actually think about how they do it. And it's something people should know about and also what a great person Henrietta was.

Very well written!

This is non-fiction at its best.

Harrowing tales abound - Henrietta's, her family's, the author's. A real human interest story that happens to involve science. Eye opening and sad with a dash of altruism.

i really liked this book, but i have conflicting ideas about the author… although i think it’s important that this book was published, i don’t know if it was ethically correct of her to push the family’s boundaries like she did when trying to find out information. it felt a little weird and maybe potentially like a “white savior” type of thing… i think if anything the Lacks family should have been the ones to publish this book, although that brings up more issues since they received no information regarding anything prior to Skloot’s involvement. a good read though, and very informative. i’m glad that at least this book is keeping Henrietta’s memory alive and giving information about informed consent in research practices.

3 Stars The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was the April selection for my bookclub. I fully admit that I was disappointed that it was chosen. After how colossally disappointing Hidden Figures was, I was really hoping for something different. But we ended up with back to back books with similar foundations (both being part scientific explanation, part biography of African-American women unrecognized by history). Usually we do not read the same genre two months in a row let alone two books with the such similar subject matters. I fully admit that I read this book begrudgingly and that affected my enjoyment of it. I did try to keep an open mind, but the book never fully grabbed my attention and I had to push myself just to finish it. Despite that, it was a good balance between the story of Henrietta and the scientific side. Unlike how Hidden Figures failed to delve into its characters' lives, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks provided an extremely detailed narrative of Henrietta's life and the legacy of her cells. Although the in depth look at her family extended into some tenuous acquaintances and distant relative that did not seem to add to the story and only added to the number of people to try to keep straight. There was a list of people at the end of the book, but well, it was at the end of the book so I did not realize it was there until I finished reading. Although the balance between biography and scientific explanations was fairly well balanced, it did skip around a lot. And the book dragged on a bit. At some point the book became partially a memoir of the author's own journey of writing this book and of hunting down the Lacks family. I use the phrase "hunting down" very intentionally. There is a line between thorough research and invasion of privacy. Frankly, Skloot crossed far beyond that line into completely stalking the family. She called each of them daily for months, ignored all refusals to talk to her, went through the phonebook and called every person with the last name of Lacks, and drove by people's homes in hope of catching them outside. Yeah, that's called stalking! But she condemns other journalists who committed the same actions to get access to the Lacks family often less severely than she herself did. Skloot skated over all of this with the implacable attitude that all of her actions were justified by her good intentions. She made sure to drop in several instances of people saying (much later, after she wore them down and eventually won them over) how her determination and refusal to take no for an answer must have come from the spirit of Henrietta or God Himself. Skloot painted herself a bit too much of an altruistic savior fighting for the rights of a poor, uneducated black family. It was just too much of a White Knight situation for my comfort, and the author's continual insertion of her own opinions and experiences made it more of a memoir than scientific exposé. This is a very thoroughly researched book and raises many good questions. But the author's stance is clear, and she introduces a noticeable amount of bias into the story. It was a good enough book, but it just was not the right time for me. The author was off-putting, and the story never grabbed my attention. Still, I would recommend it to other people. I'm glad that Henrietta was able to get some recognition and that more people became cognizant of the issues raised in this book. People are by and large unaware of medical practices and ethics, both present and past. And building one's knowledge on this subject is very important. But I was disappointed in my experience with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I might revisit this book at some point in the future, but for now I am glad to be done with it. RATING FACTORS: Ease of Reading: 3 Stars Writing Style: 2 Stars Entertainment Level: 2 Stars Attention to Details: 4 Stars Emotional Level: 3 Stars Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars Objectivity: 2 Stars

This is just an all-around important read. Even though it's nonfiction, it reads like a novel. I simply could not put it down. Read this if you have any interest in the history of medicine and genetics, even if you're not an expert.

Written in what is describe almost as documentary style, where the author is chasing truth and writes in first person as she discovers things about the subject's life, I found the angle quite interesting. It weaves the narratives of the author, the subject (Henrietta Lacks), her family, and her cells together nicely. Slow at times, worth the read for the historical insights and implications on healthcare ethics with respect to race, patent law, and poverty and strife.

A good but somewhat slow read.

Overall this was an incredible story. It made me sad, happy, excited, depressed, curious, etc. An emotional rollercoaster, that's for sure. This book is very well written. It takes the reader through the history of this family and how poorly they have been treated. It makes me wonder about all the other cells/body parts out there that have been used for research that no one knows about. This is only one lady, but there must be hundred's of other sacrifices people have made to make all these drugs and innovations that we have today.

The last quarter of the book dragged, but otherwise I found this surprisingly good at holding my interest. Skloot does a good job of explaining the history and science involved, and bouncing back and forth between the family's story and the effect of HeLa cells on medical history made it more interesting than if just one of those stories took up the whole book.

I totally enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I am not a scientist and not into science at all.But it's important to remember that behind all great inventions and discoveries there are real people involved, whole families, sad and happy stories. I won't forget Henrietta for the rest of my life, that's for sure.

Just from reading the description to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I was fascinated by the HeLa cells, and I had to pick up the title. Already from the first couple of words, I knew that I was reading something really, really special. Skloot has managed to write a very captivating and intimate account. Henrietta Lacks, the origin of the HeLa cells is naturally at the center. The most important and prominent thread thorough The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is to commemorate the existence of Henrietta Lacks, who was one of the most important persons for the Lacks family – and seemingly just a (nameless) donor for the rest of the world. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is also a somewhat brief account of the advances of science due to the HeLa cells, the ethical and legal side to scientific research, the appalling conditions of the Lacks family and the blacks. For all that the HeLa cells has meant for the scientific field, we should all remember the person that made all this possible, and commemorate her. And for the Lacks family, who lost their wife, mother, aunt and friend; and were left without proper information nor consent of what the scientific field did.

This was an incredible ride. If you're ever curious about any non-fiction, this is it.

This was an important read. It definitely got technical at times and wasn't always an easy read but I learned so much about genetics, race, and other important topics from this book. I look forward to watching the HBO film and researching some more in the future

A fascinating, thought-provoking book. I've never liked science much but this book managed to get me interested in cell research and genetics, which is no small feat! ;) I think the strongest point of the book is the ethical questions it raises about informed consents, genetic research and the profits that can be made from anyone's cells. It amazes me that, to this day, anyone's tissues can be used for research without the person's knowledge or censent. To me, the weakest point in the book is the biographical part. It was high time someone wrote a book about Henrietta Lacks and how her cells where "exploited" by scientifics worldwide but half-way through the book the author starts writing about Henrietta's children & grandchildren and there is little to read about Henrietta's story and its implications after that. What also bothered me was the way the author made herself a character of the book. I just don't understand her motivations for doing so. What feels particularly strange here is that despite Skloot's involvement I still can't figure out what she thought of Henrietta's family. It sometimes felt like she wanted to like them but didn't manage to, she sometimes sympathizes and other times she seems to feel terribly annoyed. I think Skloot either wrote too much or too little. Since she decided to involve herself in the story she should have made it clear what her standpoint and feelings were. I think she should have focused more about Henrietta, cell research and bioethics. Now that would have made a really captivating book!

This book is a great mixture of science and humanity. I recommend it to everybody but especially people in the sciences.

This book tells the story of cells so influential to our lives, and the discoveries of modern technology- cells that are never talked about. The mixture of biology and family history gives education as well as emotional connection. A great book!

I read this book for school; that’s partly why it took so long too finish. I really enjoyed this book && would highly recommend this book too someone else!

I couldn't put this book down. It was well-written, engaging, and informative. The writer had a perfect balance of history, education, human interest and a bit of her perspective as well. It crossed so many things: race, biology, medicine, personal history, and just plain humanity.

Really enjoyed this book. It is one of the few non fiction books that I have just needed to sit with after reading.