The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot (2010)
“A Black woman's cells were taken without her knowledge and became the most important biological material in medical history — and her family never received a dime.”
Short Summary
In 1951, a poor Black tobacco farmer named Henrietta Lacks went to Johns Hopkins Hospital with cervical cancer and had cells removed without her knowledge. Those cells — called HeLa — were immortal, reproducing endlessly in lab dishes, and transformed modern medicine. They helped develop the polio vaccine, cancer research, and countless drugs. Henrietta died at thirty-one. Her family didn't learn about the cells for decades, could not afford health insurance, and watched scientists profit from tissue that was taken from their mother without consent. Reporter Rebecca Skloot spent a decade uncovering both stories: the science and the family.
Detailed Summary
Henrietta Lacks was born in Roanoke, Virginia, in 1920, and raised in Clover by her grandfather after her mother died. She married David Lacks and moved to Baltimore, where she worked and raised five children. In January 1951 she visited Johns Hopkins — one of the few hospitals that treated Black pa...