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The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks  Cover Image Book Book

The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks / Rebecca Skloot.

Summary:

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer and viruses; helped lead to in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks is buried in an unmarked grave. Her family did not learn of her "immortality" until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. The story of the Lacks family is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.--From publisher description.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781400052172
  • ISBN: 1400052173
  • Physical Description: x, 369 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 25 cm.
  • Edition: 1st ed.
  • Publisher: New York : Crown Publishers, c2010.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [338]-358) and index.
Subject: Lacks, Henrietta, 1920-1951 > Health.
Cancer > Patients > Virginia > Biography.
African American women > History.
Human experimentation in medicine > United States > History.
HeLa cells.
Cancer > Research.
Cell culture.
Medical ethics.

Available copies

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Coldwater Branch 616.0277 SKL (Text) 35401424749652 Non-Fiction Available -
Quincy Branch 616.0277 SKL (Text) 35404424061094 Non-Fiction Available -


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