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An excellent book that kept me reading. I started it and only because I had to do something or go to sleep was I able to put it down. I enjoyed the way the book was written (narrative science writing) and was actually able to understand the scientific jargon.
In 1951 Henrietta Lacks died of an aggressive form of cervical cancer, but her cells live on. For the first time, scientists were able to successfully culture living cells from a tissue sample; a tiny sliver of tissue from the cancer that killed Henrietta became the world-known HeLa cells, used in countless research projects. Yet the donor of this remarkable gift to science was never acknowledged, and, in fact, her family was unaware of her contribution for decades. This is the story not only of
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This was an interesting, yet horrifying book.
I feel like the book was more about Henrietta's family than Henrietta. I would have liked to have learned more about Henrietta.
However, her family is what makes Henrietta immortal, even more than her cells.
I thought the science was interesting, yet for all of the good things scientists work on, there is so much room for malfeasance with human tissues.
I'm also not sure if I liked the organization of the book, alternating between the science and the fam ...more
I feel like the book was more about Henrietta's family than Henrietta. I would have liked to have learned more about Henrietta.
However, her family is what makes Henrietta immortal, even more than her cells.
I thought the science was interesting, yet for all of the good things scientists work on, there is so much room for malfeasance with human tissues.
I'm also not sure if I liked the organization of the book, alternating between the science and the fam ...more
My 2 main thoughts for this book are "sad" and "thought-provoking".
SAD because what's happened to Henrietta Lacks and her children. I'm talking about the social effects of being treated differently as "coloured people" from back way when. Being of ethnic origin, I can attest to the Un-pleasantness of being treated as different (though I am lucky being different today is NOT as it was back then).
THOUGHT-PROVOKING for the book touches of 'gray areas' concerns. Is there any limit of scientific rese ...more
SAD because what's happened to Henrietta Lacks and her children. I'm talking about the social effects of being treated differently as "coloured people" from back way when. Being of ethnic origin, I can attest to the Un-pleasantness of being treated as different (though I am lucky being different today is NOT as it was back then).
THOUGHT-PROVOKING for the book touches of 'gray areas' concerns. Is there any limit of scientific rese ...more
The story of Henrietta Lacks (and her immortal cell line, HeLa) are absolutely fascinating, and reading it along with my health research department and discussing research ethics, informed consent, and wildly recent history of both was a great experience.
Aug 03, 2011
Nancy Brady
rated it
it was amazing
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review of another edition
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An amazing story about Henrietta Lacks and her cells, known as HeLa. Combining both science and the story of Henrietta and her family made for a mesmerizing read. So many positive things came from the HeLa cells and yet her family suffered (suffers) terribly while the world made use of the cells taken from her cervical cancer. Definitely worth reading!
A super interesting book about a women who has given us so much. Although this was historical, it was interesting, informative and readable. Some parts were pretty scientific and slowed the overall pace of the story, but there weren't too many of those. It's an interesting topic, tissue privacy/ownership and a relevant one.
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Dec 02, 2010
Amelia
marked it as to-read-interesting
Feb 12, 2011
Charlotte (Buried in Books)
marked it as to-read
May 25, 2012
Arieanca
marked it as to-read
Mar 04, 2013
Martha
marked it as to-read
Dec 19, 2014
Laurie
marked it as to-read
Nov 05, 2015
Teddie
marked it as to-read
