Book Review- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Coincidently I opened to read this book on 2 February 2022 exactly 12 years after it got printed. Being a science student myself, the “HeLa” term is not new to me… however, the saga behind HeLa brought utter impact and revelation.

In 1952, HeLa cells came to be the first human cell line that could thrive and divide endlessly in a laboratory, leading scientists to label these cells “immortal”. They are the world's most ubiquitous sources for medical research on everything… from hormones, steroids, and vitamins to gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, studying atomic bombs' effects, outer space …even the polio vaccine.

It gives me goosebumps to realize that we all have benefitted from 'her' cells and shall continue to be part of our future generations as well!

These Immortal 'HeLa' cells belonged to 'her'. She was a 31 years old African American woman named Henrietta Lacks.

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, born into a family of tobacco farmers in Virginia and a mother of five, was diagnosed with what proved to be a fatal form of cervical cancer. When she became ill, she went to Johns Hopkins University which, at the time, was the only place giving medical treatment without charge to the black community. It so happened that during that time Dr. George Gey and his team were struggling to develop the first human cell culture. As practiced at that time, the doctors took the cells without her permission, and to their utter amazement, Henrietta’s cancer cells grew quickly and easily in the culture lab. The doctors harvested cells and distributed them to labs around the globe, where they were multiplied and used for a diverse array of treatments.

Henrietta’s cells rapidly birthed a multi-billion dollar industry that revolutionized medical research, and the book relays how reputations and fortunes were made, while Henrietta remained anonymous and her family unaware. She suffered scarring radiation treatments, later died, and was buried in an unmarked grave. It was not until some 20 years after her death that the Lacks family discovered the life-changing news of their mother’s “immortal” cells and their subsequent exploitation for profit.

The book adeptly navigates the wrenching Lack family recollections and the overarching realities of poverty and pre–civil-rights racism. The author's style is matched by an organized scientific rigor and manifest expertise in the field. She has shown sensitivity and genuine warmth through her writings.

A must-read book for science enthusiasts and also for those believers of God who await the magical presence of the almighty!

In case you are tight on time and/or have a thinner patience level and/or slim habit of reading a thick book, then I recommend watching the movie titled “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” to get the summary of this book.