The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Aug 07, 2013 Graceann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, memoir, history

Well. Where to begin with this confusing, enthralling, infuriating story. In 1951, in Jim Crow Baltimore, a young mother named Henrietta Lacks visited the "negro" section of Johns Hopkins Hospital with a complaint of pain and abnormal bleeding, after more than a year of feeling that something "wasn't right," and a self-exam that revealed something truly alarming. As he did with numerous other patients, the doctor who examined her took a sample of her cells and sent them to research, not expectin Well. Where to begin with this confusing, enthralling, infuriating story. In 1951, in Jim Crow Baltimore, a young mother named Henrietta Lacks visited the "negro" section of Johns Hopkins Hospital with a complaint of pain and abnormal bleeding, after more than a year of feeling that something "wasn't right," and a self-exam that revealed something truly alarming. As he did with numerous other patients, the doctor who examined her took a sample of her cells and sent them to research, not expecting much (which is to say, they would quickly die and be forgotten). But they lived, and lived and lived and lived, and thrived. This was the beginning of the immortal "HeLa" cells that have contributed to medicine at almost every level, worldwide, particularly in the study of cancer and the eradication of Polio in the United States. These cells could have come from Jane Doe on Smith Street, or any one of thousands of patients who passed through Johns Hopkins every year. But they didn't. They came from a 31-year-old woman of limited means and education, who left behind a family that, for decades, had no idea what contribution she had made to the World. Many of us are alive today thanks to research that was first performed using HeLa cells. The gratitude I have for Mrs. Lacks and her family is genuine. That she didn't know the work was going on makes no difference. If she hadn't visited that doctor, on that day, modern medical care might look quite different.

At play here are issues of race, consent, ethics and legacy, and each rises to the fore at some point, with several issues sometimes tussling for the top spot at once. While her family is proud of her contribution, they are unhappy about the lack of consent, and the lack of compensation to her family, who remain on financially tenuous ground. When one of her relatives had bypass surgery, the last thing his doctor said to him was how proud he should be of Henrietta Lacks' contribution. When he woke up, he was $125,000 in debt for the surgery. There's something clearly wrong with that scenario. Then as now, however, consent is a very murky issue, with most of us having contributed cells to some study without even realizing it. In the one instance that could be documented where a cell line was patented and the doctor kept the patient in the dark, a lawsuit (which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court) was of little use.

Added to this story is the one of Henrietta's daughter Elsie, who was committed to a psychiatric hospital (more like a warehouse, actually) as a small child with the diagnosis of "idiocy," among other disorders. Psychiatric hospitals at the time were places in which Mengele would have felt right at home. She was likely subjected to a procedure called pneumoencephalography, without any thought of consent, and I dare you to look up that procedure without feeling sickened. Even more sickening is that it continued being used right up into the 1970s.

Rebecca Skloot worked hand-in-hand with Henrietta's family for many years, after earning their trust and proving her good intentions. The help that Henrietta's daughter Deborah provided was critical in the depth to which Skloot was able to delve and the assistance she received from other family members, and medical institutions. Deborah's confusion, her anger and her eventual contentment as her mother received more and more recognition, brought me near to tears many times. Skloot sometimes gets a bit "into the weeds" with some of the circuitous routes that the HeLa cells traveled. There's a section on contamination in particular that, no matter how many times I read it and how simple the language (and she really did strive to make it understandable for lay people), I just did not get it. That is a lack of understanding on my part, not a lack of skill on Skloot's. Nevertheless, the sections that were far more compelling to me personally were the portions detailing Skloot's detective work and connection with the Lacks family. These are people with heart, soul and history.

A books podcast I listen to referred to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks as a "swiss army knife" recommendation, in that it can be recommended for a variety of readers with a fair degree of assurance that the reader will find *something* in it that is relatable and worthy. Now that I've read it for myself, I thoroughly agree, because on so many levels, I'm now more aware and more grateful. I can thank Henrietta Lacks for that, and then Rebecca Skloot, for bringing her story to a brighter light. ...more

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Jul 05, 2015 Megan rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookclub-ish, nonficadu, finished-2015

Riddle me this: how is it ok for people to be expected to allow their bodily tissues to be used for scientific research (some of which may compromise people's personal ethics) which often results in profits of millions, even billions, of dollars, for big pharma and other biological corporations, yet it is too much to ask for healthcare to be available at an affordable price for said people? And by said people, I mean pretty much anyone who has visited a doctor in their lifetime, including being ...more

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Aug 07, 2013 Debbie rated it really liked it

I listened to this on audiobook over the course of a week and a half.

The book starts like a memoir - the early life of Henrietta Lacks, her family, her upbringing - and unfolds from there. About a quarter of the way into the book, readers will notice a shift to less about Henrietta and more about the doctors who worked with her cells and what they discovered in the name of science. About halfway through, there is more focus on the themes of medical ethics and specific court cases that may have h ...more

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Feb 18, 2017 Chris Chappelear rated it it was amazing

This was one of the best books I have ever read. Well-researched, well-written, educational, and hard to put down. I might be biased since I lived in Baltimore when I read it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hear HBO has made something based on this and I can't wait to see it. ...more

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Apr 22, 2017 Korie Brown rated it it was amazing

If you live in the USA, you should read this book. Science meets racism; it's a heady, horrifying mix. ...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Celeste rated it liked it

This book is a human interest story on HeLa cells, so it's like a scientific history combined with a biography. I expected a lot out of this book because I have heard from everyone how good it is, but it just wasn't my favorite. I didn't think that the human interest portion of the story made me interested in the human. I actually walked away from the whole book obsessed with how important it is to get an education because Deborah was a mess. 2.5 stars. History book club pick. ...more

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