October 2011
This book tells the story of the woman whose cells were the first cells to be successfully reproduced in a laboratory. A discovery that changed the history of medicine. In 1951, an African American woman, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. Cells were taken from her cervix without her consent and were brought to a laboratory were they not only kept alive but reproduced fro the first time in history. For 60 years these cells (HeLa) have been used and commercialized in different experiments leading to the development of the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping and more; and have generated millions of dollars in profit to medical researchers. Her family didn't know that her cells existed until 20 years after Henrietta's death. A discovery that changed their life making them feel betrayed, angry and cheated but also eager to learn about their's mother contribution to the world. "Immortal Life" reads like a novel. The prose is unadorned, crisp and transparent. Skloot frequently glides into section and chapter breaks with thought-provoking quotations from interview subjects. This technique sometimes lets well-meaning scientists demonstrate through naivete how easy it is to objectify human research subjects. Years later, Gey's lab assistant Mary Kubicek told Skloot about Lacks's autopsy: "When I saw those toenails, I nearly fainted. I thought, Oh jeez, she's a real person." Eric Roston. Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012902147.html
