Book: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Author: Rebecca Skloot

Reviewer: Aaron Keith Massey, student, computer science, NC State

Skloot’s first book is destined to become a classic investigation of the ethics and science.  It examines the life of Henrietta Lacks, a black tobacco farmer who died of cancer.  Her cells were taken without her knowledge, and  became the first to grow indefinitely in culture. The cells spawned a multi-million dollar industry and revolutionized medicine, but her family wasn’t informed for 20 years.  Find out what happens when they learned the truth. You won’t be able to put the book down.