The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Authors

Rebecca Skloot

Files

Description

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.

Publication Date

8-1-2011

Relational Format

article

Disciplines

Bioethics and Medical Ethics | Medical Genetics

Subject Headings (LCSH)

Lacks, Henrietta, 1920-1951 -- Health; Cancer -- Patients -- Virginia -- Biography; African American women -- History; Human experimentation in medicine -- United States -- History; HeLa cells; Cancer -- Research; Cell culture; Medical ethics

Comments

Link to research resource guide for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, compiled by UM Libraries.

Additional files include:

• Classroom resource guide created by the Center for Writing and Rhetoric
• Schedule of public events related to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• Letter to faculty from Provost Morris Stocks that accompanied complimentary copies of the book
• Flyer for August Convocation (2011), where Rebecca Skloot was the featured speaker
• Flyer for Common Read Experience 2011
• Flyer for the 2011 Essay Contest
• Free movie pass to the on-campus screening of Modern Times: The Way of All Flesh
• Text from the first iteration of the website for the Common Reading Experience, devoted to the 2011 selection

Recommended Citation

Skloot, Rebecca, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" (2011). Common Reading Experience. 9.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/umreads/9