From the Bookshelf of Diversity in All Forms!…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

Start date: December 1, 2018

Finish date: December 30, 2018

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: The diversity topic we will cover in December is Disease & Illness.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks b…more
[close] The diversity topic we will cover in December is Disease & Illness.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

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What Members Thought

Aug 09, 2018 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: digital, library, 2018, non-fiction, biography

This is a very powerful and informative story. Also, with the history of personal freedoms, civil rights, and right to privacy/requiring consent, this is a very important books. I am not sure the details about the science involved in the story will appeal to all. Just the same as how those who are here for the science may be disinterested in the background stories of the people involved. But, if you think you will like one of the other, I don’t think the one you don’t care for will be distractin This is a very powerful and informative story. Also, with the history of personal freedoms, civil rights, and right to privacy/requiring consent, this is a very important books. I am not sure the details about the science involved in the story will appeal to all. Just the same as how those who are here for the science may be disinterested in the background stories of the people involved. But, if you think you will like one of the other, I don’t think the one you don’t care for will be distracting.

With that in mind, I will continue with the statement that it really is two books: the science and the people. First, the background of cell and tissue research in the last 100 years is intriguing and to hear about all of the advances and why Henretta Lacks was key to them is fascinating. Second, the background of not only the Lacks family, but also others who have had their tissues/cells used for research without permission, gives a lot of food for thought. Almost every medical advancement, and many scientific advancements, in the past 60 years are because of Henrietta Lacks. But, questions about the consent she gave, what she understood about her cells being used, and how much the family has benefited are all questioned and discussed. It really hits hard to think that you may have no control over parts of you once they are no longer part of your body. Also, the fiscal and research ramifications of giving people more rights over their body tissue/cells really creates a huge Catch-22. As I had surgery earlier this year that involved some tissue being removed for analysis, it started to make me wonder what I signed on all those forms and if my cells might still be out there being used for research.

The only part of the book that kind of dragged for me was the time that the author spent with the family late in the book. After listening to an interview with the author it was surprising to hear that this part of the book may have been her original focus (how the family has dealt with the revelations surrounding the use of their mother’s cells), but to me it kind of dragged and got repetitive. I don’t think it is bad and others may find it interesting, it just was what brought down my interest in the story a little bit.

If you like science-based stories, medical-based stories, civil/personal rights history, and/or just love a decent non-fiction, I think this book is very worth checking out.
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Jun 04, 2017 Toni FGMAMTC rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, biographical, history, african-american, medical, science

I starting reading this without knowing what it was about, and it's a real doozy. It's about a woman who's cells are responsible for much of our medicines and medical knowledge of today. I guess the topic is bioethics. Her background and the life of her family after her death are given. There's so much moral conflict surround their situation and no clear cut answers for these situations going forward. The author does a great job of showing all sides of the matter. Very interesting and thought pr ...more

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Sep 24, 2016 Susan Bazzett-Griffith rated it really liked it

Shelves: memoirs-biography, psych-soc-fem-pop, politics-economy-history

This book, about the woman whose cancer cells were the origin of the HeLa cell line used in medicine and science around the globe, was not at all what I thought it would be. It is not, in any way, a traditional biography, but rather an interesting interspersion of science, history, and one family's story and experience of love, loss, poverty and racism.

The book delves much deeper into science, the science of cells, of DNA, of cell culture, of immunology, of cancer than I was expecting, and I fo This book, about the woman whose cancer cells were the origin of the HeLa cell line used in medicine and science around the globe, was not at all what I thought it would be. It is not, in any way, a traditional biography, but rather an interesting interspersion of science, history, and one family's story and experience of love, loss, poverty and racism.

The book delves much deeper into science, the science of cells, of DNA, of cell culture, of immunology, of cancer than I was expecting, and I found myself grateful for the classes I took in high school and college in biology and genetics, or I imagine I would have been lost a lot. That said, oddly, since I'm not generally a science person, this may have been my favorite part of the book, as I found it completely fascinating, and Skloot explains the science in a way that is comprehensible, though not necessarily easy, for people who aren't deeply entrenched in the lexicon of biology and medicine-- a difficult and commendable feat.

The amount of history, too, was again, surprising. Not only does Skloot obviously portray the story of Henrietta and her family, but she dives deep into the history of John Hopkins Medicine, deep into the history of Crownsville Hospital, deep into the history of slavery and sharecropping of the mid atlantic states. She tells of the history of medical experimentation, the history of consent laws (and lack thereof), the history of copyright information, the history of science itself. For one book, the amount of research and broadness of scope of information that can be gleaned from reading it, is beyond impressive.

And under all that history and science, there is a story with profound heart and soul- of Henrietta Lacks, a daughter, sister, mother, wife-- who suffered and died too young. The story of her children and her family and her grandchildren, and all they have survived. It is a story worth telling, if one that I found, overall, fairly depressing and sad.

Honestly, four stars isn't exactly a fair assessment of this book, as I didn't REALLY like it- I did like it; however, I feel like the education I received reading it, and the brush up on my biology knowledge, makes it imperative of a bump up on the rating scale. It is, ultimately, a really good book. Four stars. ...more

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