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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Nearly 60 years after she died, a poor black woman from Baltimore named Henrietta Lacks was finally honored with a headstone to mark her grave this past May. What made the incident remarkable was that up until a best selling book revealed her history to the world earlier this year, the story of Henrietta Lacks has remained largely unknown, for it was her cancerous cells that helped launch a medical revolution. Henrietta Lacks died of aggressive cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of 31. What neither she nor her family knew was that before her death, a sample of her cancer cells were taken and studied by scientists who discovered that unlike other cell samples, Henrietta’s did not die when given adequate nutrition and oxygen. They thrived and multiplied, making them the first human cell line that scientists could grow indefinitely in laboratory conditions. The cells were named HeLa, based on on the first two letters of her first and last name. HeLa cells were mass produced in the decades that followed and enabled scientists to find the vaccine for polio and treatments for leukemia, haemophilia, and Parkinson’s disease. They have also been used to research treatments for cancer and AIDS and, during the Cold War, were at the center of an international medical controversy.

Today there are so many HeLa cells in existence that they are estimated to have a combined weight of more than 50 million metric tons. Discoveries have been made, careers have advanced, lives have been saved, and profits have been reaped. But for two decades after she died, Henrietta Lacks’ family had no idea what had been done with her cells and who had benefited. The Lacks family, too poor to afford health insurance themselves, attempted for many years to receive financial compensation, but more importantly, to gain recognition for Henrietta’s legacy. And now, a book written by science writer Rebecca Skloot, finally tells the definitive story of who Henrietta Lacks was, how her cells were taken, and what her family has been through. The New York Times’ bestselling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, also tells the stories of African Americans’ justified fears of medical experimentation, the scientific community’s insulation, and important changes in medical ethics and patients rights. Rebecca Skloot spent ten years gathering the research, intimately getting to know members of the Lacks family, in particular Henrietta’s daughter Deborah, and attempting to put together the pieces of one of the most important untold stories of modern medicine.

The Way of All Flesh

Oprah Winfrey plans to collaborate with television producer Alan Ball to make an HBO film based on the best selling book by Rebecca Skloot. But in 1997 acclaimed award winning BBC film maker Adam Curtis made a documentary about the cells of Henrietta Lacks called The Way of All Flesh. In it, Curtis examines the intense drive by politicians, celebrities and scientists to use HeLa cells to find a cure for cancer, as well as the raising the important questions of ethics in medical research. The film received the 1997 Golden Gate award among other recognition. Adam Curtis has received countless awards for his films which KPFK listeners may be familiar with, such as The Power of Nightmares, The Century of the Self, The Trap, and The Living Dead.

Thank you Gifts:

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – book – $130
• The Way of All Flesh – DVD – $75
• Interview with Rebecca Skloot – $35
• Henrietta Lacks Pack – all of the above – $200