![]() Gey in particular is presented sympathetically, as he never profited from his success either, and when he became ill with cancer, he offered himself up relentlessly as a research subject. Although the family was utterly failed by the researchers and others who benefitted from HeLa cells, the author does not tell a simplistic story. Lacking money, education, and health care, when researchers came seeking samples of their blood to further scientific understanding of HeLa cells, they believed they were being tested to see if they had the same cancer as Henrietta. Henrietta’s family, meanwhile, was unaware of this for decades and never received any compensation. The HeLa cell line was used to develop the polio vaccine, cancer treatments, cloning and many other scientific and medical advances. Her cells grew with incredible vigor and never died, launching an industry and multiple medical revolutions. Gey had been trying for several decades to grow human cells in culture, and Henrietta’s were the first to succeed. ![]() George Gey, head of tissue culture research at Johns Hopkins. Few works of nonfiction could be as difficult to put down as this book, which weaves together medical and personal history with issues of science, race and research ethics.īefore Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951, a sample of her tumor was given to Dr. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is truly riveting and deserves the mass of praise it has received. This series of articles explores literary works that intersect with our professional interests in research, research administration, and university life.
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