Never heard of Henrietta Lacks? No hard feelings, neither had I when I picked up this book. [Don’t worry, I’m willing to bet you already went and Googled her name…your secret’s safe with me. 🙂 ]
Henrietta Lacks is the reason scientists have been able to conduct research on cancer, polio and a number of other diseases. Her cells, being used around the world in all different kinds of research and experiments, number in the trillions, even though she died 50 years ago.
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” written by Rebecca Skloot, strives to illustrate the life of Henrietta and give her the credit and fame she and her family deserve.
When Henrietta was in her mid-20s in the 1950s, she developed cervical cancer and underwent the normal treatment of the time. She died a few months later. Without her or her family’s knowledge or permission, doctors at Johns-Hopkins hospital took cells from her cervix, some cancerous and some healthy. Although the healthy cells died soon after, the cancerous cells continued to multiply and grow–and didn’t show signs of stopping. The doctors at Johns-Hopkins soon started sharing the cells with any doctor that asked.
Henrietta had five children and a husband at the time of her death, and after Skloot has detailed Henrietta’s life and premature death, she follows the family through the years and into the present, documenting her struggle to get them to talk to her for this book.
Her children, especially her daughter, have been extremely affected by the knowledge that their mother’s cells are still in use, particularly because for years and years after her death, they didn’t even know the cells had been taken or were still being used.
Skloot details their individual struggles and how they are dealing with all of the different emotions and legalities on an everyday basis.
What I enjoyed even more than these testimonials that Skloot provides is her discussion in the afterword about the legal issues involved with cell research. when you go to the hospital for any kind of procedure, the hospital and doctors can legally take the leftover cells and ‘matter’ you leave behind and use them without your knowledge for any kind of research.
There have been quite a few people who have sued for rights over their cells, mainly because money has been made off of them, but the court ruled in favor of the hospitals, saying that research, and thus scientific advancement, would be put in jeopardy if people had rights over their own cells.
While I have not formed a strong opinion about this issue (I would like to read more about it first), I found this a very interesting and not often talked about subject, and I feel as though it will come to the forefront in the near future.
Skloot’s writing style is also very easy to read and thus this book can be a quick read, which, although not a priority for me (I will read anything), I know is appealing to many people. Overall I really enjoyed reading this, and I would definitely suggest it to anyone, because while it is about a scientific subject, the writing is very manageable–there was hardly any medical terminology used, and when there was, Skloot did a very good job of explaining it in a simple manner.
This is the first book review of many that I will post. I hope to be able to convince people to read books that I have enjoyed!
As a side note…if you didn’t already notice, the colors of the cover of this book go nicely, don’t they? Love pink and orange! 🙂