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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
About The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cellstaken without her knowledge in 1951became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henriettas cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family cant afford health insurance.
Soon to be made into an HBO movie by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball, this New York Times bestseller takes readers on an extraordinary journey, from the colored ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers filled with HeLa cells, from Henriettas small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia, to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. Its a story inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff were made of.
http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/
"cells taken without her knowledge..the collision between ethics, race, and medicine... the dark history of experimentation on African Americans...legal battles over whether we control the stuff were made of"
MissB
(15,812 posts)I'm sure the movie won't be nearly as good but I will go see it anyway.
Barack_America
(28,876 posts)underpants
(182,877 posts)Amazing.
LaydeeBug
(10,291 posts)They don't dare admit what they owe them
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)Sad, they sound like they are being torn apart.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/on-the-eve-of-an-oprah-movie-about-henrietta-lacks-an-ugly-feud-consumes-the-family/2017/03/28/d33d3418-1248-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html
Her cells were a lifesaving gift to millions...yet she was never given the choice over her own body. The cells were harvested without permission.
LaydeeBug
(10,291 posts)panader0
(25,816 posts)I will read this book. Thanks.
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)With her body as the plantation?
Recommended. The ultimate in exploitation.
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)that sums it up perfectly.
Thanks.
Retrograde
(10,156 posts)As mentioned in the book cited in the OP, hospitals (including the one where Lacks was treated at no charge) regularly took samples from patients without telling them, much less asking permission. Lacks' case was special only in that her cells turned out to be aggressive growers and lent themselves more easily to research and testing than other strains.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)documenting the effects that was conducted on black patients as well.
woodsprite
(11,924 posts)It was required reading for my daughter when she was entering the University of Delaware a few years ago. They had Rebecca Skloot and some of Henrietta's family come and speak to the freshman class. I had just undergone uterine cancer surgery. Made me wonder if they did any type of research with my 'spare parts'.
mzteaze
(448 posts)with a sad outcome for the family.
brer cat
(24,605 posts)I have ever read. I couldn't put it down.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)Who attended a progressive SoCal high school.
Big K&R
peggysue2
(10,839 posts)And important one, too. Skloot gives a fascinating account of the slow but evolving discipline of bioethics and medical research. I read this following a friend's brother dying of cancer. I read this one and the Emperor of All Maladies, another fascinating history of cancer, research and treatment.
Sadly, I recently read that Henrietta Lack's story has created all sorts of contention between Lack's descendants. Sounds as if petty rivalries ad jealousies have popped up since the book's publication and huge success. Oprah is producing and starring in an upcoming movie.
That aside, the story is the story, one worth reading, remembering and learning from.
And yes, I'd like to see the upcoming movie.
radical noodle
(8,013 posts)It's an amazing book. I'm going to watch for the movie, and hope it is true to the book.