The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks was one of the best books that I've read in many years. There are so many reasons why I enjoyed this book so much. It tells an interesting and powerful story about an ordinary woman who made a contribution to science that nobody could have ever imagined. What makes the contribution so interesting is that even though it made such a big impact, the lady behind it remained an anonymity for decades. Dr Howard Jones, a gynaecological surgeon in John Hopkins earnestly collects biopsy samples from most of his cancer patients and he did so with Henrietta's cervical specimen too. Dr George Gey, a cell biologist at Hopkins who had been persistently trying to culture cell lines and had failed, attempted to culture Henrietta's too and walked away that night only to return the next morning to see that her cells had divided and multiplied like no other. This was the first ever case of cells surviving and multiplying for a prolonged time outside the human body.
The HeLa cells travelled all over the world ( even to space!) and were utilised by scientists to discover several vaccines ( polio, hepatitis to name a few), to study cell division, to test antibiotics, HIV treatment, cloning and so on and so forth. Almost every lab in the world is a home to the HeLa cells that were extracted from Henrietta in the 1940's . Even though she passed away prematurely due to cervical cancer, her cells are multiplying and growing every minute in a test tube across the planet even today. ( and will continue to do so forever!)
I loved this book not just because it was a fascinating read about the history of her cells and their contribution to science, but also because it explored the concept of medical ethics. Even though Henrietta's family were proud of the fact that her cells had helped so many people, they were haunted by the fear that she, being an African woman in those days was exploited by white doctors who took her cells, ran tests on them and never gave her or her family the necessary credit for them. You cannot blame them as the world was considerably different in those times and the author shines light on some horror tales of exploitation of the African community by doctors in those days by giving examples of the "Tuskegee syphillis experiment". Her children had over the years struggled due to inadequate accessibility to healthcare while their mother's cells had helped medical science blossom. The story of HeLa played an important role in the development of medical ethics and "informed consent" that is the backbone of medical research today. While we use bones, ligaments, blood and organs to run tests and researches with the hope of developing science, it is essential we remember that behind the dissected fragments of the body is a face and soul of a person who is as human as any of us and we must give them the respect and dignity that they deserve whether they are dead or alive.
The HeLa cells travelled all over the world ( even to space!) and were utilised by scientists to discover several vaccines ( polio, hepatitis to name a few), to study cell division, to test antibiotics, HIV treatment, cloning and so on and so forth. Almost every lab in the world is a home to the HeLa cells that were extracted from Henrietta in the 1940's . Even though she passed away prematurely due to cervical cancer, her cells are multiplying and growing every minute in a test tube across the planet even today. ( and will continue to do so forever!)
I loved this book not just because it was a fascinating read about the history of her cells and their contribution to science, but also because it explored the concept of medical ethics. Even though Henrietta's family were proud of the fact that her cells had helped so many people, they were haunted by the fear that she, being an African woman in those days was exploited by white doctors who took her cells, ran tests on them and never gave her or her family the necessary credit for them. You cannot blame them as the world was considerably different in those times and the author shines light on some horror tales of exploitation of the African community by doctors in those days by giving examples of the "Tuskegee syphillis experiment". Her children had over the years struggled due to inadequate accessibility to healthcare while their mother's cells had helped medical science blossom. The story of HeLa played an important role in the development of medical ethics and "informed consent" that is the backbone of medical research today. While we use bones, ligaments, blood and organs to run tests and researches with the hope of developing science, it is essential we remember that behind the dissected fragments of the body is a face and soul of a person who is as human as any of us and we must give them the respect and dignity that they deserve whether they are dead or alive.
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