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The Resource The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot

The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot

Creator
Author
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
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
x, 369 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Contents
  • Life. The exam ... 1951 ; Clover ... 1920-1942 ; Diagnosis and treatment ... 1951 ; The birth of HeLa ... 1951 ; "Blackness be spreadin all inside ... 1951 ; "Lady's on the phone" ... 1999 ; The death and life of cell culture ... 1951 ; "A miserable specimen ... 1951 ; Turner Station ... 1999 ; The other side of the tracks ... 1999 ; "The devil of pain itself" ... 1951
  • Death. The storm ... 1951 ; The HeLa factory ... 1951-1953 ; Helen Lane ... 1953-1954 ; "Too young to remember" ... 1951-1965 ; "Spending eternity in the same place" ... 1999 ; Illegal, immoral, and deplorable ... 1954-1966 ; "Strangest hybrid" ... 1960-1966 ; "The most critical time on this earth is now" ... 1966-1973 ; The HeLa bomb ... 1966 ; Night doctors ... 2000 ; "The fame she so richly deserves" ... 1970-1973
  • Immortality. "It's alive" ... 1973-1974 ; "Least they can do" ... 1975 ; "Who told you you could sell my spleen?" ... 1976-1988 ; Breach of privacy ... 1980-1985 ; The secret of immortality ... 1984-1995 ; After London ... 1996-1999 ; A village of Henriettas ... 2000 ; Zakariyya ... 2000 ; Hela, goddess of death ... 2000-2001 ; "All that's my mother" ... 2001 ; The hospital for the Negro insane ... 2001 ; The medical records ... 2001 ; Soul cleansing ... 2001 ; Heavenly bodies ... 2001 ; "Nothing to be scared about" ... 2001 ; The long road to Clover ... 2009
  • Where they are now
Isbn
9780804189873
Instance
Label
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Title
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Statement of responsibility
Rebecca Skloot
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
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
Awards note
Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Nonfiction, 2010; Wellcome Trust Book Prize, 2010.
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1972-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Skloot, Rebecca
Dewey number
616.9940092
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • plates
Index
index present
Interest level
UG
LC call number
RC265.6.L24
LC item number
S55 2011
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
NLM call number
WO 690
NLM item number
S628i 2011
Reading level
8
Study program name
Accelerated Reader AR
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Lacks, Henrietta
  • Cancer
  • African American women
  • Human experimentation in medicine
  • HeLa cells
  • Cancer
  • Cell culture
  • Medical ethics
  • Lacks, Henrietta
  • African American women
  • Cancer
  • Cancer
  • Cell culture
  • Health
  • HeLa cells
  • Human experimentation in medicine
  • Medical ethics
  • United States
  • Virginia
Label
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 338-358) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Life. The exam ... 1951 ; Clover ... 1920-1942 ; Diagnosis and treatment ... 1951 ; The birth of HeLa ... 1951 ; "Blackness be spreadin all inside ... 1951 ; "Lady's on the phone" ... 1999 ; The death and life of cell culture ... 1951 ; "A miserable specimen ... 1951 ; Turner Station ... 1999 ; The other side of the tracks ... 1999 ; "The devil of pain itself" ... 1951 -- Death. The storm ... 1951 ; The HeLa factory ... 1951-1953 ; Helen Lane ... 1953-1954 ; "Too young to remember" ... 1951-1965 ; "Spending eternity in the same place" ... 1999 ; Illegal, immoral, and deplorable ... 1954-1966 ; "Strangest hybrid" ... 1960-1966 ; "The most critical time on this earth is now" ... 1966-1973 ; The HeLa bomb ... 1966 ; Night doctors ... 2000 ; "The fame she so richly deserves" ... 1970-1973 -- Immortality. "It's alive" ... 1973-1974 ; "Least they can do" ... 1975 ; "Who told you you could sell my spleen?" ... 1976-1988 ; Breach of privacy ... 1980-1985 ; The secret of immortality ... 1984-1995 ; After London ... 1996-1999 ; A village of Henriettas ... 2000 ; Zakariyya ... 2000 ; Hela, goddess of death ... 2000-2001 ; "All that's my mother" ... 2001 ; The hospital for the Negro insane ... 2001 ; The medical records ... 2001 ; Soul cleansing ... 2001 ; Heavenly bodies ... 2001 ; "Nothing to be scared about" ... 2001 ; The long road to Clover ... 2009 -- Where they are now
Control code
ocn326529053
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
x, 369 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780804189873
Lccn
2009031785
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (some color)
Label
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 338-358) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Life. The exam ... 1951 ; Clover ... 1920-1942 ; Diagnosis and treatment ... 1951 ; The birth of HeLa ... 1951 ; "Blackness be spreadin all inside ... 1951 ; "Lady's on the phone" ... 1999 ; The death and life of cell culture ... 1951 ; "A miserable specimen ... 1951 ; Turner Station ... 1999 ; The other side of the tracks ... 1999 ; "The devil of pain itself" ... 1951 -- Death. The storm ... 1951 ; The HeLa factory ... 1951-1953 ; Helen Lane ... 1953-1954 ; "Too young to remember" ... 1951-1965 ; "Spending eternity in the same place" ... 1999 ; Illegal, immoral, and deplorable ... 1954-1966 ; "Strangest hybrid" ... 1960-1966 ; "The most critical time on this earth is now" ... 1966-1973 ; The HeLa bomb ... 1966 ; Night doctors ... 2000 ; "The fame she so richly deserves" ... 1970-1973 -- Immortality. "It's alive" ... 1973-1974 ; "Least they can do" ... 1975 ; "Who told you you could sell my spleen?" ... 1976-1988 ; Breach of privacy ... 1980-1985 ; The secret of immortality ... 1984-1995 ; After London ... 1996-1999 ; A village of Henriettas ... 2000 ; Zakariyya ... 2000 ; Hela, goddess of death ... 2000-2001 ; "All that's my mother" ... 2001 ; The hospital for the Negro insane ... 2001 ; The medical records ... 2001 ; Soul cleansing ... 2001 ; Heavenly bodies ... 2001 ; "Nothing to be scared about" ... 2001 ; The long road to Clover ... 2009 -- Where they are now
Control code
ocn326529053
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
x, 369 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780804189873
Lccn
2009031785
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (some color)

Subject

Genre

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