Book Probes 'Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks'

February 7, 2010 - 8:37pm — Bibliofuture

Listen to full story on "All Things Considered" on NPR

Henrietta Lacks, a poor African-American woman and mother of five, never knew that she revolutionized medicine. Shortly before she died of cancer in 1951, doctors took a tissue sample from her — without her permission. Those cells became the first human cells to gain "immortality" — replicating themselves in laboratories long after Henrietta Lacks died. Host Guy Raz talks to science journalist Rebecca Skloot about her new book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.