The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Overall Rating : 4/5
Summary
The book is not just about Henrietta Lacks and her cells, but it is also about the Lacks family and their struggle to accept the miracle that is HeLa.
We get a glimpse of the author’s fascination with Henrietta, which probably serves as her motivation, the person behind the HeLa cell line early on in the introduction. As she sits in her biology class and listens to her Professor meander off about the cell cycle, cancer and cell lines. What catches her attention is the human element behind the scene, the name and face of HeLa, Henrietta Lacks.
Although the reader starts by getting to know Henrietta, her childhood, family and ancestry, her home-house in Clover, marriage, cancer and finally death. The story actually starts unfolding after her death, or perhaps just before it when a sample of her cervical cancer was taken for cell culturing by Dr. George Gey. As soon as it became evident that her cells were “special”, capable of growing infinitely, hardy and easy to grow. HeLa became a superstar amongst biologists overnight. It was traded and shared amongst the researchers all of whom were tackling a mosaic of problems, ranging from drug testing to space travel, HeLa is everywhere. But the one thing people forgot or neglected was the origin of the cells. Nobody knew who Henrietta was, not even her children. The author delves into how the two parts of Henrietta learn about each other, one part being the scientific community using HeLa cells, and the other being her children and close family. Both of whom were in the dark about the existence of the other till serendipity led them to each other. The book also keeps coming back to the Lacks family, especially Deborah, who feel that the medical community at the time did not acknowledge Henrietta’s contribution and give her credit where it’s due. The book ends with a hard look at patient consent and use of their biological tissue in research. This last part still does not have a clear answer even now.
My take
I found the book very accessible to the general reader. The book-length was also just optimal. It had enough description such that the reader understands the very basic science behind cell culturing. Perhaps the author’s interactions with the Lacks family, which was far-removed from the HeLa cells themselves, helped in making the text lucid.
Why you should read it
Any student who has taken a biology course or is even mildly interested in biology will find this book very interesting. It covers a bit of the science behind HeLa cells that they have read about in text-books, or perhaps used in a laboratory. This is not a science book, but it offers much more than what is well studied, sequenced and understood. This book gives a bird’s eye view of the medical and social landscape in which HeLa emerged and continues to stride ahead in.