The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Non fiction are not just school books, encyclopaedia's and books about insects. Non fiction is REAL LIFE, and the opportunity for amazing people to tell their or someone else's extraordinary story. There are thousands of different topics, experiences and people to read about, so saying non fiction isn't your thing isn't an excuse anymore. 

But, if you do feel that way, you may change your mind after reading this book. 

Now most of you won't know the name Henrietta Lacks but at some point in your life, she would've impacted you in some way. 

Henrietta Lacks was born in 1920 and unfortunately lost her life battling cervical cancer in 1951. However, that is not the end of the story. When Henrietta died, without permission a scientist took a sample of her cells. His name was Dr Gey and he studied the sample and discovered that they were immortal. 

Where normal cells died, Henrietta's doubled, tripled and quadrupled creating millions of cells in the last 70 years. These cells were named HeLa, taking the first two letters of her first name and last (which is sadly why Henrietta's name was nearly forgotten). They were the first human cells that were able to survive in a test tube. This finally gave scientists what they needed to conduct the research, trials and experiments that would change medicine and science forever. 

The HeLa cell helped contribute to: 

'The Polio Vaccine, Virology science created, Discovery of genetic links to down syndrome, A stain called haematoxylin making chromosomes visible, Preimplantation genetic screening for IVF, Amniocenters for genetic disease testing, Genetic disease diagnoses, Cryogenics, Live cell transportation, Cloning, Gene therapy, Stem cell isolation, Gene mapping, Animal cloning, Space biology, Genetic hybrids, Toxins, Nuclear testing, Development of cancer drug Herceptin, Blood type identification, Study behaviour of salmonella, Oropouche virus, Viral induction of apoptosis, Canine distemper virus, Study Estradiol and estorgen, Quercetin, Flavonoids. antioxidants, Phytochemical compounds, Anticancer activity to the ethanolic extract of mango peel, Heptamethine dyes, Theranostics, Irradiation, Fullerenes, Photodynamic therapy, RNAi based identification system and interference of specific cancer cells, HPV vaccines, Studying HIV, Longevity research, Nanotech, Tuberculosis studied, Anti tumour medications, Radiation testing and Telomerase.'  (Kimaree Walker, 2012)

Henrietta's Cells have saved millions of lives and like I said would've impacted you at some point in your life. Scientists today will be using HeLa cells to create a vaccine for Covid... almost 70 years after her death. 

However, the tragedy to this story is that Henrietta did not give her doctor permission to use her cells, her identity was forgotten and for twenty years her family had no knowledge of the impact Henrietta was having on the world. The HeLa cell was worth millions and the Lacks family,
firstly knew nothing about it, and never saw any of this money.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The book follows the author Rebecca Skloot, investigating the story of Henrietta and learning about the woman behind the HeLa cell and the hardships her family experienced after her death. As readers we get an insight into Henrietta's life, during and after. Skloot takes us from the day Henrietta was born to present day, never failing to show us the ugly side of history and the awful realities Henrietta and her family had to endure as a black family. 

It's funny how a persons race suddenly didn't matter when her cells were saving the world...

The HeLa cell took off, with scientists all across America buying Henrietta's cells. Meanwhile, the Lacks' were living in poverty, without health care and in no position to even benefit from Henrietta's cells. The story is a sad one, but with the impact Henrietta has had on the world, it is a story that needs to be known. Skloot starts the story as an outsider, but slowly becomes a part of the story and makes an impact on the Lacks family, growing closely to Henrietta's youngest daughter, Deborah. Skloot grows as the book goes on,  helping the Lack's, gaining their trust and not exploiting them as many other writers had tried to do before. Her relationship with Deborah is another amazing and unexpected aspect to the book, it allows us to gain a more intimate perspective on Henrietta and her family than ever before.

The story of the HeLa cell is fascinating but so is Henrietta's and this book not only shows you both, but the truth too. For a woman who had such a massive impact on the world, who died only to save millions, we should at least know her as Henrietta Lacks and not just HeLa and that's why you should read this book.