In 2010, Rebecca Skloot’s book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” was on bestseller lists was a very long time. The author told the very moving story of a poor black woman living in the South who developed cervical cancer. Skloot really did her research speaking to almost every member of Henrietta’s extended family. As tragic as her life and death were, what followed was even more disturbing.
During her treatment at Johns Hopkins, doctors took samples of her cells without informing her or her family. It was discovered that these cells, known as HeLa cells, could survive in a lab setting. There was no record of this ever happening before. It is believed that more than 74,000 cancer studies have used these cells.
Because of a recent agreement between the NIH and the Lacks’ family, they will now become more involved with how these cells will be used for scientific purposes.
Here is another example of the power of the written word. I doubt that many people outside the medical community had ever heard of Henrietta Lacks before this book was written. Because of Skloot’s work a national discussion has resulted which will result in new agreements between families and those involved in medical research.