TOW #1 IRB The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

HeLa cells, a recognizable term for any biologist, had an almost completely unknown origin. Even the donor’s family did not know of their existence for more than twenty years. Cells taken from Henrietta’s cervical cancer doubled and doubled continuously, helping scientists uncover secrets of cancer, viruses, vaccines, cloning and many more advances that have changed our everyday life. Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells of the many important people involved in this medical breakthrough all tied into one story. A timeline tracing the top of the pages shows the jump between Henrietta’s childhood from the 1920’s to the 1940’s, Henrietta’s cancer and cell culture of the 1950’s, and Rebecca’s research in 1999.  All bound into one book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks reads as a biography and memoir. Rebecca, a student who dreaded biology class when she first learned of the HeLa cells, became an award-winning science writer. Later an interest in these cells made her ask questions that no one had before. Her biography of Henrietta Lacks shares the untold story of the woman and her family who advanced medical research for scientists all around the world.

Rebecca’s unique method of telling Henrietta’s story excites and entrances readers. Using her own inquisitiveness for Henrietta’s life, Rebecca writes her own story into this history; she transfigures the biography into a memoir. The personal touches added from explaining the difficulty Rebecca encounters when tracking down the Lacks family, adds to the background of Henrietta’s life and the Lacks family’s reactions to learning the news. This creative technique introduces the reader to information like Henrietta’s daughter Deborah’s stroke from feeling overwhelmed by all the stress of her mother’s immortal cells and the deterioration of the neighborhood where Henrietta spent most of her life. The book develops as Rebecca learns more information about Henrietta and her cells. Henrietta’s life became a mystery; Rebecca became the detective. As a thought provoking way of displaying the facts the reader begins to wonder more about the Lacks along with Rebecca in the story. How did the family learn of her immortal cells? What happened to Henrietta’s daughter Elise? Did Dr. Gey (the scientist who grew the cells) give the Lacks family any money he made from selling Henrietta’s cells?

By including Rebecca’s own memoir into the biography of Henrietta Lacks she creates an exciting read instead of a simple story. The personal feel adds depth to the information transforming these cells from medical research tools into a real person.