Review of 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' on 'Goodreads'
What an amazing book! Rebecca Skloot's father is the wonderful Floyd Skloot, and in this case talent appears to be hereditary.[return]Henrietta Lacks was the woman whose sample of cancer cells became the first successfully cultured human cells. They revolutionized medical research. Their first major contribution was making it possible to develop a polio vaccine. This book tells the story of the cell line and how it's been used, and also the story of the Lacks family and the social and medical environment. If you think African Americans get poor medical treatment today, you should see what was being done in the 40s and 50s. I also had no idea how very recent the concept of informed consent became a part in experimentation on human beings.