Reviews

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

profbanks's review against another edition

5.0

A much more personal story than I expected, but just as twisty, fascinating, and beautifully written as I'd hoped.

tmaltman's review against another edition

5.0

This is our Common Book selection at Normandale for 2011-2012. It seems like us and half the colleges in the nation may be reading it, but what the heck, because it's a splendid work on nonfiction, combining issues of medical ethics, cellular biology, and the emotionally moving story of one family's search for answers about their mother. I'm hoping the students in my composition classes will dig it as much as I did.

tiffanyskidmore's review against another edition

4.0

I learned a lot while reading this book and was enthralled by the stories of Henrietta and her family. The world of science and ethics is a blurry one, but this author does a good job of presenting multiple perspectives and allowing the reader to come to her own conclusion. Great read.

squalo's review against another edition

4.0

Interesting story and well researched. It just never grabbed me.

lcs032345's review against another edition

5.0

I never heard of this African American woman before, although her self-replicating cancer cells are in every lab in the world because of their unique nature. Her cells were obtained without informed consent, harvested, and sold to labs all over the world for millions while her impoverished family lacked access to basic health care and necessities. The author interviewed the family and followed them for several years and their lack of understanding of what happened to their mother's cells and why, and the intentional suppression of the truth by the medical community, is astounding. Reparations are due. Even if obtaining tissue samples without informed consent was state of the art at the time, the profit realized from all of the inventions, immunizations, and data obtained testing her cells calls for some form of payment to the family.

melissarochelle's review against another edition

4.0

This book is both fascinating and frustrating. I enjoyed learning more about the woman and family behind the cells, but I would have liked to learn a little more about what the cells have done. By the end, the science of the cells seemed to have been left behind to just focus on the family. The book raises so many questions about consent and privacy. SO MANY. Definitely an interesting book for a book club discussion.

I highly recommend this, [b:And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic|28212|And the Band Played On Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic|Randy Shilts|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311986709s/28212.jpg|1080309], and [b:The Emperor of All Maladies|7170627|The Emperor of All Maladies|Siddhartha Mukherjee|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1280771091s/7170627.jpg|7580942] for anyone that wants to learn more about cancer, research, and the men & women behind the science.

mgclayton's review against another edition

4.0

Well-written, non-fiction text that is accessible to readers of non-science backgrounds. A good teacher of ethics and the bad history of some research.

hcamel24's review against another edition

4.0

As a scientist in the biotech field, this was a wonderful book to read. Until hearing of this book, I had never even thought about where HeLa cells came from. They've always been such a staple that it's hard to believe what the real story actually was. I feel very bad for the Lacks family and all they have been through.

j_rowley's review against another edition

4.0

The story behind the most used cell culture in science. HeLa, comes from Henrietta Lacks, are cancer cells taken from her. Her original cancer of the cervix went wild all over her body due to HPV. It kills her but leads to cell culture that is still around. Story of the family who didn’t know anything for years and the science. Really 3 books — history of Henrietta, the science, and the reporter’s struggles to get the story.

I think the family should get something from the money made over the years from the cells. Maybe even healthcare.

jennitarheelreader's review against another edition

5.0

This is a must-read! While sad in parts, it's an amazing book that everyone should read.