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Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Exploited victim’s brilliant bequest

July 28, 2010 14:47
Rebecca Skloot: riveting revelations
1 min read

By Rebecca Skloot
Macmillan, £18.99

'Hela" is the native name for Sri Lanka. It is also a seaside resort in Poland. HeLa, however, is a shorthand reference to the "world's first immortal cells" - taken from the virulent cancer which killed their unknowing, black donor, Henrietta Lacks, in 1951.

The cells survived and multiplied with vigour, becoming a major contributor to medical research, speeding the development of polio vaccine, helping in the new field of virology to prevent measles, herpes, and later treating Aids. They were sent into space by the US and the USSR during the Cold War and were instrumental in cell-cloning, and the journey to the Human Genome Project. It is, on the face of it, a story of scientific triumph, but it is also a story fraught with emotional and ethical questions.

Rebecca Skloot's riveting book weaves back and forth in time, unravelling a series of detective-like stories. Henrietta was unknown until an article in Rolling Stone in 1976 revealed not only that she was black, but also that no one had sought permission to use her cells for research. Her real name was not published until 1985.