The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot

  • Broadway Books
  • 2011
  • ISBN: 978-1400052189
  • 400 pages
  • WorldCat
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks book cover
About the Book

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. ebook icon Audio book icon
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About the Author

Rebecca Skloot is an award-winning science writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; Discover; Prevention; Glamour; and others. She has worked as a correspondent for NPR’s Radiolab and PBS’s NOVA scienceNOW and is a contributing editor at Popular Science magazine and guest editor of The Best American Science Writing 2011. Her work has been anthologized in several collections, including The Best Creative Nonfiction. She is a former vice president of the National Book Critics Circle and has taught creative nonfiction and science journalism. She is the Founder and President of the Henrietta Lacks Foundation.

Official Website of Rebecca Skloot

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