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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

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Dec 11, 2023 Nic rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, medical, nonfiction, biography, science, cancer, strong-women

This book was required reading for one of my courses, this semester. I wish all of my homework was reading books from my "to read" list.

"Hopkins say they gave them cells away," Lawrence yelled, "but they made millions! It's not fair! She's the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother so important to science, why can't we get health insurance?" 287

Rebecca Skloot took the time to meet with family members and even to befriend them. She really delved into t This book was required reading for one of my courses, this semester. I wish all of my homework was reading books from my "to read" list.

"Hopkins say they gave them cells away," Lawrence yelled, "but they made millions! It's not fair! She's the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother so important to science, why can't we get health insurance?" 287

Rebecca Skloot took the time to meet with family members and even to befriend them. She really delved into their side of the story, and reported well on the facts. The family was lacking a great deal of information and Rebecca was able to clue them in on many details, which helped dissipate family members' anger. Although the anger was justified. Through Skloot, this family finally received the answers, and the respect, they deserved. It feels an injustice they were kept in the dark for such a long time, and they uncovered many facts through the media, on their own. To make matters worse, one researcher wanted to return to the family and collect blood from them, for further research. The researcher did have good intentions, but there's a huge disconnect between the researchers and the donors.

Toward the end of our conversation, Hsu mentioned that she could learn much more from testing the family's blood today, since DNA technology had advanced so much since the seventies. Then she asked if I'd tell the Lacks family one more thing for her: "If they are willing," she said, "I wouldn't mind to go back and get some more blood." 321

Did you know, still today, your spare tissue from surgical procedures can be used without your consent, as long as the identity of the sample has been deidentified? In Henrietta Lacks' case, her identity was discovered and leaked and the family learned that some became rich through selling Henrietta's cell samples. With the genome mapped, how deidentified can samples be? Maybe this could be solved by making it illegal to make money off of the sale of tissue samples for research. Or, a percentage of the sales could be set aside for the donor, as "royalties". To be clear, John Hopkins never made money from Henrietta's cell line, but others, to whom they gave her sample, did make money.

All in all, a good read, which will keep your wheels spinning long after turning the final page. ...more

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