The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Summary
"Writing with a novelist's artistry, a biologist's expertise, and the zeal of an investigative reporter, Skloot tells a truly astonishing story of racism and poverty, science and conscience, spirituality and family, all driven by a galvanizing inquiry into the sanctity of the body and the very nature of the life force." From Booklist. 107.9-10 (Jan. 1, 2011): p4.
"From a single, abbreviated life grew a seemingly immortal line of cells that made some of the most crucial innovations in modern science possible. And from that same life, and those cells, Rebecca Skloot has fashioned in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a fascinating and moving story of medicine and family, of how life is sustained in laboratories and in memory..."Tom Nissley (Amazon.com) more...
Rebecca Skloot
Biography
"Rebecca Skloot became fascinated by an offhand remark made by her high school biology teacher that the most popular line of cells sold to researchers, called HeLacells, were taken in the 1950s from a young black woman, Henrietta Lacks. Skloot started to research the story as a grad student and found that Lacks's cells were removed without her consent and that her descendants had long been unaware about her posthumous contributions to medicine. She chased the story for ten years and finally published her epic book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, in February to great acclaim." "Rebecca Skloot." Psychology Today 43.3 (2010): 80-1. Article Citation. Web. 15 Aug. 2011 more...
