The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

I am biased by having worked in the medical world (I am a physician/pathologist) for the past ten plus years. To me, this tale is mostly about Ms. Lacks and her family. More specifically, a tale of her descendants who carry the weight, in varying proportions and with varying obsession, of the “cells” that were cultured from Ms. Lacks’ cervical cancer and led to many groundbreaking advances in medical technology. For the non-medical professional, the world of the scientists at Hopkins and elsewhere is a dark and mysterious place. It is clouded with ideas that are foreign, if not difficult to understand; the language is opaque. Members of Henrietta’s family (brother, son) harbor resentment at Hopkins for “stealing” their mother’s cells and then allowing others to make money off of them. I keep waiting for some sort of understanding on their part as to the basics of what exactly transpired. It never really happens, even with the protagonist/daughter (Deborah). Much of the tale is an effort to navigate this lack of understanding. Hovering over the narrative is the history of cell and tissue culture and medicine in general over the past 60 plus years. Medicine is a human enterprise fraught with error and greed, just like every other human enterprise. The procurement of tumor without consent does not happen today, but it was common medical practice in Henrietta’s time. The man who cultured the tumor cells did not make any money off of them – he gave them away. It was later groups (starting with the government) who profited from the mass production and distribution of the cell line. Ms. Skloot’s narrative is a well-paced and informative read; some of the historical anecdotes are funny, enlightening and maybe even a little frightening. But, in the end, it does not make the medical profession look bad (at least in my eyes - but I live in the field and see things from a different perspective). Some readers may not be so forgiving.