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This short summary and analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot includes:
Historical contextPart-by-part summaryContext and analysisDetailed timeline of key eventsCast of charactersImportant quotesFascinating triviaSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
About The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot:
For decades, scientists have been using “HeLa” cells in biological research, from the polio vaccine and the nature of cancer to studying how human cells behave in outer space. This famous cell line began as a sample of cells taken from a poor African American mother of five named Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta died of cervical cancer in 1951 without before ever knowing that medical professionals from Johns Hopkins had taken these cells without her consent.
When her family finds out that Henrietta’s cells are being bought and sold in labs around the world, they unwittingly find themselves at the intersection of a debate on science, race, and medical ethics.
In her New York Times #1 bestseller, science journalist Rebecca Skloot tells the story of the woman behind the cells and her family’s struggle with the medical institutions that failed to acknowledge the human cost of scientific advancement.
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