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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
The author really dives deep into this over subject over many years. It's an important story for all who study and benefit from the resulting science (i.e., everyone). Much of the story is about Henrietta's family which is a story in itself about that American community.
Re read for the purposes of a book club. I had forgotten about a lot of the suffering of Henrietta's children. I'm so glad this story was told
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
An amazing story and well worth the read, but I felt it could have been better told. At one point Skloot has a conversation with Deborah about something she absolutely promised she wouldn't put in the book. So why am i reading about it? Also I felt this book had two big parts to it - Henrietta's story and Deborah's. I would have liked to somehow see them more intertwined beginning to end.
Perhaps I heard so many great reviews I was expecting to be in tears while reading this. The story itself is very moving so I'd still highly recommend. I learned quite a bit too.
Perhaps I heard so many great reviews I was expecting to be in tears while reading this. The story itself is very moving so I'd still highly recommend. I learned quite a bit too.
Interestingly written and engrossing tale of science of cells and ethics around informed consent. Enjoyable non-fiction.
informative
sad
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This was a great read, an important story and one that really makes you think about ethics in science and medicine. I recommended this book with several people, but in the synopsis that I was giving-I knew that I was not doing justice. Rebecca Skloot does a great job in making the people involved in this story come alive as well as explaining complicated medical/scientific terms. While listening to this book-I had love/hate feelings towards Deborah throughout the book. Rebecca did a great job of showing the roller coaster that was Deborah's life-inability to trust anyone, wanting to know what happened to her mother (and later what happened to her sister), her vulnerability and her pure excitement on helping with "reporting" and the toll that it took on her body and health. When she decided to work with Rebecca, she really did try to learn everything that there was to learn and was not ashamed to admit when she did not understand something (at least not to Rebecca). Over the entire process of writing this book, you can see how this family had come to accept Rebecca, but still not fully trust her with this story. Rebecca had to do a lot to earn the family's trust and to explain what had never been explained to them before in terms that they (and I) could understand.
The book poses questions on is it ethical to do research on tissues that are willingly given-should one be compensated for their cells (if it is fruitful), should corporations be making money off of this. Throughout the book, I would go back and forth between them-without the HeLa cells so much would have been lost-however is it right to see that Henrietta's family was lacking in so much? It was devastating to see that Henrietta's family was living in poverty and unable to afford medical care of their own when her cells had done so much for the world/society. From information that was captured on who Henrietta was as a woman, it was sad to see the mother that her children lost and how different their lives could have all been.
This book would be perfect for a book club-as the topic has so many questions built in to the story.
The book poses questions on is it ethical to do research on tissues that are willingly given-should one be compensated for their cells (if it is fruitful), should corporations be making money off of this. Throughout the book, I would go back and forth between them-without the HeLa cells so much would have been lost-however is it right to see that Henrietta's family was lacking in so much? It was devastating to see that Henrietta's family was living in poverty and unable to afford medical care of their own when her cells had done so much for the world/society. From information that was captured on who Henrietta was as a woman, it was sad to see the mother that her children lost and how different their lives could have all been.
This book would be perfect for a book club-as the topic has so many questions built in to the story.
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced