The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

“Not all heroes wear capes.” Henrietta Lacks is one of these unsung heroes. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot delves into informed consent, ownership of biological materials, and the social implications surrounding the use of Henrietta's cervical cancer cells without her or her family's knowledge.

These HeLa cells proved to be extremely powerful, and they became the first immortal human cell line to be grown in a laboratory. These cells have a unique ability to multiply indefinitely in the lab, making them invaluable for scientific research. HeLa cells have contributed to the development of vaccines, chemotherapy, and gene mapping, among other medical breakthroughs. They continue to be widely used in scientific studies and have revolutionized our understanding of cell biology and human health.

One potential reason why HeLa cells became immortal while other cells from cancer patients didn’t could be due to the high expression of the enzyme telomerase, which helps maintain the length of telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten with each cell division. By continuously replenishing telomeres, HeLa cells were able to bypass the normal aging process and evade senescence, the point at which most normal cells stop dividing.

This book review was written by Saakshi Rawat