Off the Shelf: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

This article was submitted by Swampscott Library Director Alyce Deveau.

This book is constantly turning up on lists for local book groups.  It is a book filled with a multitude of questions and issues that are just ripe for a discussion group.

In 1951 Henrietta Lacks, a mother of five in Baltimore was diagnosed with cervical cancer.  She sought treatment at Johns Hopkins, a charity hospital and the only one around that treated black patients.

Before administering radium for the first time, the attending doctor cut two dime-size samples of tissue, one cancerous and one healthy, from Lacks's cervix. No one asked permission or even informed her.

The doctor gave the tissue to George Gey, a scientist who had been trying to establish a continuously reproducing, or “immortal," human cell line for use in cancer research.

According to protocol, a lab assistant scribbled an abbreviation of Lacks's name, "HeLa," on the sample tubes. HeLa succeeded where all other human samples had failed. Gey gave away laboratory-grown cells to interested colleagues.

“HeLa” led to the understanding that normal human cells have 46 chromosomes. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; they helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

NASA even launched HeLa into orbit to test how human cells behave in zero-gravity. All of these medical advances resulted from the use of cells from Henrietta Lacks. Nearly 60 years later, in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” Rebecca Skloot introduces us to the real Henrietta Lacks and her children.

She delves into the problems that arose relating to race, poverty and science with the usage of her cells.  There are many ethical issues related to this use of human cells. Skloot traces the family’s emotional ordeal, trying to give the reader their perpective.

Yes, many medical advances have been made but at what cost. The Lacks family lost any sense of privacy and they were never compensated for the use of their mother’s cells. HeLa cells are still being used even today because they grow so easily.

Not only should member of book groups read this book, everyone who has an interest in the ethics of the world should take this book “off the shelf” at the .