The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

My friend lent me this book and I'm glad she did! This is the story of an African American woman born in the early 1900s to a poor southern farming family. Henrietta Lacks developed cervical cancer and was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital, which was segregated at the time.  When doctors took a sample of her tumor and sent it off to the lab, Henrietta hadn't a clue.  This was before informed consent and such.  Henrietta's cells were the first to be successfully cultured in a lab. They multiplied ferociously and ended up being integral in the development of many important drugs, treatments and vaccines that helped millions and millions of people around the world.  Meanwhile, Henrietta dies at 30 leaving behind her husband and young children, none of which know anything about Henrietta's cells and what they've contributed to medical research and development.

While this is nonfiction, it reads very much like fiction.  This is the story of the author's journey to write Henrietta's story, which has never really been the focus before.  Most in the medical field have heard of HeLa cells and their contribution to their field, but very few knew where those cells came from; Henrietta Lacks. 

I highly recommend this book. While it is very informative, it is extremely interesting to know how a lot of our current medical practices came to be (albeit some were rather controversial and questionable).