|
Sign up for our newsletters!
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy       Subscribe to O, The Oprah Magazine
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

For the Inquisitor

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. From the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s through the role her cells played in developing the polio vaccine through uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses and the effects of the atom bomb, her cells are leading to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning and gene mapping.

Read an excerpt!

Published on April 28, 2010
Loading...
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement