Summary of the Text
In 1951, a woman named Henrietta Lacks from a small town outside of Baltimore, went to see doctors at The Johns Hopkins Hospital about pains in her lower abdomen and unusual bleeding. Soon afterwards, the medical staff diagnosed her with "Epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, State 1," a common cancer in woman. Samples of her tumors were taken by the staff and passed along to a researcher at Johns Hopkins named George Guy, who specialized in cell culture. Previous to acquiring Henrietta's cell sample, Guy and members of his lab were attempting to grow human cells in culture from and had failed up to this point. To their surprise and excitement, they discovered that this particular line of cells not only grew in culture but grew at a powerful rate. As was standard procedure, they named the cells "HeLa."
Shortly after the discovery of HeLa, Henrietta passed away and life went on for her family including five young children. However, her cells were shared, transported, sold, researched, analyzed, examined and discussed all over the world decades to come. These powerfully regenerating cells directly contributed to revolutions in the fields of virology, cell culture and genetics. Some of the major advancements that would not have happened at the time they did without HeLa include the cure for polio, the discovery of the accurate number of human chromosomes, drugs for treating herpes, leukemia, influenza, hemophilia, and Parkinson's disease as well as the standardization of the science of cell culture. It is safe to say that Henrietta Lacks is unknowingly one of the most important people in 20th century medicine.
Most of this research went on without the permission let alone the knowledge of the Lacks Family. It was not until the an article was published by Rolling Stones about Henrietta and HeLa that the family truly discovered how important their family was to science. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the story of that discovery and the impact it had on the whole family especially Henrietta's youngest daughter Deborah. Skloot gives an incredible overview of the scientific history of the cells as well as the medical ethics that were developing right along with the growth of HeLa cells. Though scientific in topic, the story is deeply human, touching on matters of race, socioeconomics, ethics, love and loss.
Shortly after the discovery of HeLa, Henrietta passed away and life went on for her family including five young children. However, her cells were shared, transported, sold, researched, analyzed, examined and discussed all over the world decades to come. These powerfully regenerating cells directly contributed to revolutions in the fields of virology, cell culture and genetics. Some of the major advancements that would not have happened at the time they did without HeLa include the cure for polio, the discovery of the accurate number of human chromosomes, drugs for treating herpes, leukemia, influenza, hemophilia, and Parkinson's disease as well as the standardization of the science of cell culture. It is safe to say that Henrietta Lacks is unknowingly one of the most important people in 20th century medicine.
Most of this research went on without the permission let alone the knowledge of the Lacks Family. It was not until the an article was published by Rolling Stones about Henrietta and HeLa that the family truly discovered how important their family was to science. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the story of that discovery and the impact it had on the whole family especially Henrietta's youngest daughter Deborah. Skloot gives an incredible overview of the scientific history of the cells as well as the medical ethics that were developing right along with the growth of HeLa cells. Though scientific in topic, the story is deeply human, touching on matters of race, socioeconomics, ethics, love and loss.