Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Summary and Analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Based on the Book by Rebecca Skloot
    Summary and Analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Based on the Book by Rebecca Skloot
    Summary and Analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Based on the Book by Rebecca Skloot
    Ebook49 pages35 minutes

    Summary and Analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Based on the Book by Rebecca Skloot

    By Worth Books

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    So much to read, so little time? Get an in-depth summary of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the #1 bestseller about science, race, and medical ethics.
     
    For decades, scientists have been using “HeLa” cells in biological research, from developing the polio vaccine and studying the nature of cancer to observing how human biology behaves in outer space. This famous cell line began as a sample taken from a poor African American mother of five named Henrietta Lacks.
     
    A cancer patient, Henrietta Lacks went through medical testing but never gave consent for the use of her cells. She died of cervical cancer in 1951, without ever knowing that the samples were intended for extensive medical research.
     
    This summary of the #1 New York Times bestseller by Rebecca Skloot tells Henrietta’s story and reveals what happened when her family found out that her cells were being bought and sold in labs around the world.
     
    With historical context, character profiles, a timeline of key events, and other features, this summary and analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJan 10, 2017
    ISBN9781504043564
    Summary and Analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Based on the Book by Rebecca Skloot
    Author

    Worth Books

    Worth Books’ smart summaries get straight to the point and provide essential tools to help you be an informed reader in a busy world, whether you’re browsing for new discoveries, managing your to-read list for work or school, or simply deepening your knowledge. Available for fiction and nonfiction titles, these are the book summaries that are worth your time.  

    Read more from Worth Books

    Related to Summary and Analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

    Related ebooks

    Book Notes For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Why We Write

      Feb 7, 2018

      STEPHANIE STOKES OLIVER has spent her career in magazine and book publishing. Formerly the fashion and beauty merchandising editor at Glamour, founding editor in chief of Heart & Soul, and editor in chief of Essence.com, she most recently served as v

      7 min read

    • Article

      Critical Race Theory: Who Gets To Decide What Is History?

      Jun 4, 2021

      Conservative politicians in 16 states have introduced bills aimed at prohibiting the teaching of concepts they cite as divisive.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Death by WhatsApp!?!

      Jul 13, 2018

      For several days, messages warning about child-lifters on the prowl had pinged on smartphones in Rainpada, a tribal hamlet in Dhule district, 400 km northwest of Mumbai. Then, on July 1, the villagers saw a group of seven tribal nomads from the Davri

      9 min read

    • Article

      The 50 Best Podcasts of 2019

      Dec 27, 2019

      The 50 Best Podcasts of 2019
      29 min read

    • Article

      'Oprah's Book Club' Is Coming To Apple TV+. Here's Her First Pick

      Sep 23, 2019

      You get a book, and you get a book! And you get a book! "Oprah's Book Club" is coming to Apple TV+, the tech company and Oprah Winfrey announced Monday. The series will premiere at the platform's launch with a new episode available every two months.

      1 min read

    • Article

      The 35 Best Health and Science Books to Read This Summer

      Jun 21, 2017

      Hopefully you have time carved out for some rest and relaxation this summer, but whatever will you read? We here at STAT have you covered.

      12 min read

    • Article

      Everything You Wanted To Know About The History Of Medicine

      Jan 21, 2021

      Q: What would you say are the three biggest turning points in the history of medicine? A: Every historian will have different thoughts on this, but I would say inoculation for smallpox, which made its way to Europe and the US in the 18th century. T

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Best Panaceas for Heartaches

      Sep 22, 2017

      The Best Panaceas for Heartaches
      17 min read

    • Article

      The 39 Best Health And Science Books To Read This Summer

      Jun 25, 2018

      Need a new book to dive into? Check out the great health, medicine, and science reads on STAT's annual summer book list.

      14 min read

    • Article

      An Appalachian Odyssey: Hunting For ALS Genes Along A Sprawling Family Tree

      Aug 5, 2018

      On a 300-mile "blood and barbecue" road trip, ALS researchers pursue the often unheralded gene-finding legwork behind treatments for genetic diseases.

      21 min read

    • Article

      The Face Of Change

      Oct 25, 2019

      The Face Of Change
      14 min read

    • Article

      How Women Came to Dominate Neuroendocrinology

      Aug 16, 2018

      When Kathleen Morrison stepped onto the stage to present her research on the effects of stress on the brains of mothers and infants, she was nearly seven and a half months pregnant. The convergence was not lost on Morrison, a postdoctoral researcher

      9 min read

    • Article

      Her Son Died. Two Decades Later, She Met The Medical Student Who Got His Heart

      Mar 13, 2020

      The heart Elisabeth Tilly heard inside the chest of a 25-year-old stranger was the same that once beat inside her son.

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Summary and Analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

    5/5

    3 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Summary and Analysis of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Worth Books

      Contents

      Context

      Overview

      Summary

      Timeline

      Cast of Characters

      Direct Quotes and Analysis

      Trivia

      What’s That Word?

      Critical Response

      About Rebecca Skloot

      For Your Information

      Bibliography

      Copyright

      Context

      On October 4, 1951, Henrietta Lacks, an African American mother of five from Virginia died of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. While beloved and mourned by her family, no one could have predicted that Henrietta’s death would change the course of medical science. That’s exactly what happened, though, when scientists who had extracted cancerous cells from Henrietta’s cervix—without informing her or her family—found that her cells were capable of reproducing indefinitely in the lab. This first line of immortal human cells would be used in research ranging from the development of the polio vaccine to cancer detection and treatment, and learning how human cells responded to zero-gravity conditions.

      While scientists have long been familiar with the extraordinary HeLa cells as they are known (from Henrietta Lacks), few knew anything about Henrietta, her family, and the effects that her cells had on their lives until Rebecca Skloot’s book was published in 2010, nearly sixty years after Henrietta’s death.

      After more than a decade of research—and making her way past a great deal of initial resistance from Henrietta’s widower and children—Skloot reveals for the first time the deeply personal story of the woman whose cells became one of the most important tools in medicine, and the family that was ignored and forgotten by the scientists who harvested her cells without her knowledge or permission.

      Though there is no evidence that the doctor who originally harvested the cells or Johns Hopkins ever received direct profit from the sale of HeLa cells, many biotech companies have; and none of the profits were shared with the Lacks family.

      The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a pivotal exploration of the complicated relationship between race, science, and medical ethics.

      Overview

      In 1951, after more than a year of experiencing pelvic pain and abnormal bleeding, Henrietta Lacks, a young African American mother of five, is diagnosed with cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Hopkins doctors treat her with surgery and radiation, but her cancer continues to spread and she dies within a year of the diagnosis, leaving behind her husband and children.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1