I think I first heard about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot on a podcast. If I had to guess I'd say it was Radio Lab. It sounded really interesting but fell to the back of my mind. When Shauna visited me last year she was reading it and enjoying it. Again I thought that I should pick it up, and again I forgot. So yeah, it's been on my "To Read" list for a few years. Fortunately it arrived in my Christmas package from my dad this year!
Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in the 1950s. Without her consent, doctors removed a slice of her tumor and began using her cells in medical research. Her cells, named HeLa, reproduced so quickly and easily that they soon became widespread in the scientific community. HeLa cells were used in research relating to cancer, polio, AIDs, and so on. Unfortunately, Henrietta's family wasn't told about the medical research until a few decades later. In this book, Skloot tells the story of Henrietta's cells as well as the story of Henrietta and the Lacks family.
Recommendation: Superb. Even if you're not a fan of non-fiction, Skloot tells a fascinating story.
1 comment:
Oh, your book blog is back! I check it from time to time. This one sounds pretty interesting! Also, digging the new banner :)
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