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Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Born a poor, black tobacco farmer, her cancer cells - taken without her knowledge - became a multi million-dollar industry and one of the most important tools in medicine. Yet Henrietta's family did not learn of her 'immorality' until more than twenty years after hear death, with devastating consequences... Balancing the beauty and drama of scientific discovery with dark questions about who owns the stuff our bodies are made of, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an extraordinary detective story in search of the soul and story of a real woman, whose cells live on today in all four corners of the world.

I often pick up books through recommendations or reviews but it can take a while for me to get around to reading them so by then I’ve forgotten why I wanted to read. And I never read the blurb on the back so I often get surprises when I start reading. This is one of these books. I assumed it was a novel, fiction and with the tagline “She died in 1951. What happened next changed the world.” I never realised any different. It is almost the pitch for an old movie. However, this book is fascinating.

Why have I never heard of Henrietta Lacks? There cannot be many people whose lives haven't been altered by Henrietta Lacks whose cells were taken from her, and are immortal, and continue to grow today many years later. We should be able to thank the woman who, without knowing, gave so much and realise that if she had not passed away, the world would be a very different place.

Others like me may find it difficult to understand the realities that this family faced and lived through (and currently live through). The attitudes to people of colour in the segregated American South are incomprehensible. The poverty they lived in, the lack of healthcare and how she would expect to be treated once she had a terminal illness. This book touches on multiple topics and places scientific research, informed consent and patient privacy in its historical context.

I’m not sure I agree with the assertion that the Lacks family should have gained financially because of HeLa. I know pharmas are now making a lot of money but they have no doubt spent a portion on the research, but I’m not really defending them. If something is removed from me I would be happy for it to be used for medical research. I donate blood, I carry a donor card and I will donate my body will be donated to science after my death. I’m not expecting to be paid for any of that.

The only reason I did not give it 10 stars was because there was a point I thought it went a little flat. I can’t put my finger on what it was though. However the second half of the book when I came to advances made in my lifetime, perhaps selfishly, I got more interested again. To think this woman’s cells helped in AIDS research, produced the HPV vaccine and was probably involved in my blood pressure medication.

Sending on to someone who has this on their wishlist.

Thanks for the wishlist book and chocolate which accompanied a Roundabout book.

Wow, what an interesting and moving book. I loved many aspects of it, the science, the history (bringing to life the recent roots of systemic racism in America in a very personal way), the human interactions of Skloot and the Lacks family, especially Deborah.

I will be leaving this at my mum’s for my sister.

My sister found the book really interesting.

Going into the Already Crossed Bookbox

Join UK Bookcrossers at the Newcastle Unconvention from 29th-31st July 2022

Taken from the Already Bookcrossed Bookbox.