Rebecca Skloot writes narrative science and medical non-fiction, best known for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The book follows Henrietta Lacks, whose cervical cancer cells were taken without her informed consent in 1951 and became the HeLa cell line used extensively in medical research. Skloot moves between the history of the cells, the science they enabled and the experiences of Lacks's family, who learned much later how widely the cells had been used. The result is as much about consent, race, medical ethics and ownership as it is about laboratory biology. Skloot explains technical material for general readers while keeping the family story central. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is especially useful to readers interested in medical ethics because the history of HeLa cells is inseparable from consent, race and one family's experience of scientific research. Read more Less
No products in the cart.