Given on NET Radio program All About Books in 2011
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot Published by Crown Publishing
This book contains an amazing story, really two stories. It’s the human story of a woman named Henrietta Lacks (and her family past and present) and it’s a science story, the story of Henrietta Lacks' cells - called HeLa cells.
The human part of the story is not only about Henrietta Lacks and her family it’s also the story of how Rebecca Skloot, the author, tracked down the family members to get at some aspects of their story. We learn of the rough life of the family in general – a low-income black family. Henrietta, born in 1920 - grew up in Clover Virginia, Married David Lacks at age 20, moved close to Baltimore in 1942. After Henrietta's fifth child - Joseph - she went to her local doctor with several complaints. Her local doctor in turn sent her to Johns Hopkins - the only hospital for miles that treated black patients. Henrietta was found to have cervical cancer and had treatments for the disease at Johns Hopkins. Perhaps the best place at the time to get cancer treatments. However by the time symptoms showed up there was little hope for the patient with cervical cancer in this era.
When Henrietta had surgery - the surgeon - Dr. Lawrence Wharton Jr. - took a biopsy of the cancerous tissue and gave them to Dr. George Gey. He successfully cultured cells from Henrietta. This was his first successful culture of human cells. This is not the end of the human story - the author has much more to say about Henrietta and her family - but from here the science part of the story begins: A very long story, not fully covered in this book - it could fill many volumes.
For Dr Gey the combination of the HeLa cells (a fast growing cancer), and advancing precision and practice (adding procedures to prevent bacterial contamination) proved successful: the first human cell line. HeLa cells grew faster than normal cells (20x) - he spread the news and then he spread the cells -sharing with others. Later the first 'HeLa cell factory' was up and running, with a small start in 1952. If we turn back to Henrietta briefly this is just one year after she succumbed to the cancer in 1951. This first 'factory' was setup aiming at aiding the fight against polio but was soon producing trillions of cells each week for a variety of research. As the author tells us - even though the cells were cancerous they still had many aspects that all other cells in our body have - and thus could be used to research some of the basic biology of the cell.
Researchers have discovered so much from HeLa cells. The first view of the chromosomes that house our bodies DNA, and that we have 46 chromosomes, before this it was thought that we had 48, was discovered in HeLa cells. HeLa cells were also used to see how human cells react to gravity/pressure; how cells react to radiation – this was the beginning of the cold war. They were used to study infection: How viruses and bacteria function, and on and on. Among the information gained from HeLa cells, researchers also discovered that Henrietta died from a cervical cancer that was caused by the Human Papilloma Virus - and they discovered how that virus causes cancer. This led to the HPV vaccine and a way to stop this type of cancer. HeLa cells helped find the cure for Henrietta Lacks' cancer.
Henrietta Lacks, a women who died in 1951, currently has cells in thousands of research labs, cells that have helped and still help researchers overcome disease and determine basic biological information about human cells. This tale of a women's life and that of her cells is worth reading.
The author, Rebecca Skloot, has created a foundation with a mission of providing financial assistance to individuals who have made contributions to research, particularly without their consent, without personally benefiting from it. The foundation has awarded grants to several descendants of Henrietta Lacks covering health care, tuition and emergency needs. Ms. Skloot contributes a portion of the proceeds from this book to the foundation.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Hard back edition 2010
Now in a trade paperback edition 2011