The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

      Henrietta Lacks was a life-loving young woman in the 1930s who loved going to dance clubs at night and being with friends. There was one thing that was stopping her from living a normal life: Henrietta Lacks was living with cancer. I read the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It is a very interesting book about a young African American woman named Henrietta Lacks who had cervical cancer. During her operation to get her tumor out, a doctor named George Gey took some cells from her tumor without her or her family's permission and put them in his lab. Unlike most cell samples, her's reproduced at an enormous rate and are still reproducing today. Her cells were shipped to labs all around the world and were used to make many vaccinations, to find out the effects on bombs, and for cloning. Many scientists were making a lot of money on Henrietta's immortal cells which were known as HeLa cells but her family got nothing. Scientists didn't want people to know who the owner of the HeLa cells were so they gave the media names like Helen Lane or Helen Larson so no one would find out who's cells they really were. But her family eventually found out. I liked reading this book because it is totally true to life and it wasn't only about the HeLa cells but also about Henrietta Lacks and the Lacks family so I definitely recommend this book.

Henrietta Lacks

Decoding Life: Unraveling The Mysteries of the Human Genome

Have you ever imagined that the growth and development of all life forms on Earth are controlled by tiny pieces of genetic material located inside each and every cell of any organism? These tiny pieces are called genomes which are made up of deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA that are located on the chromosomes inside the nucleus of the cell.

Over this past winter break, I read Decoding Life by Ron Fridell, a book that is short yet densely packed with information on everything there is to know about genetics and it's implication in passing different characteristics from one generation to the next. Every creature has its own unique genome but the basic structure of all creatures' genetic material is the same. It also discusses targeting the mutated genes that are responsible for genetic diseases and genetic malformations, future possibilities for making designer babies and even cloning mammals. But the most important topic that this book covers is the work on the development of gene therapy, which could cure genetic diseases and some types of cancer in the future. Another vital idea is to use stem cells in replacing damaged cells instead of fixing it with gene therapy. This book also talks about how scientists believe that aging is the result of the telomeres at the tips of chromosomes, being used up and when this happens, the cell becomes aged thus stops dividing and dies.

In writing this book, I think Ron Fridell was trying to update the public on the very important advancements going on in the current world of genetics.

This genomic revolution leaves scientists with moral and ethical dilemmas that may never be resolved. After all, they have to weight the benefits and the risks involved in altering human genomes.  

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta and Day (her husband) Lacks

Have you ever wondered where all the vaccines you get at the doctor's come from? You can thank Henrietta for that. I read the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot which was about a woman named Henrietta who had cervical cancer. Henrietta was treated in Johns Hopkins during the 1930s when there was segregation in America. Henrietta was african american so many people thought she wasn't given as good a treatment as white people at the time. The doctors, while performing a surgery on her cancer, took a sample of it so it could be reproduced. This sample was sent to George Gey who tried to reproduce it. It was successful and the cells kept reproducing, and they still are today.  Many discoveries, including the polio vaccine, DNA discoveries, and bomb effects, are thanks to Henrietta's cells. Her cells were also cancerous so many cancer studies were performed on them that helped further our knowledge on how cancer becomes cancer etc. This medical miracle was unknown to the Lacks family until one of Henrietta's daughters overheard her friend talking about a woman's cells that have made many scientific discoveries. This discovery started a medical scandal that Henrietta's sons will never give up on. However Henrietta's only daughter, Deborah, wished to find out more about her mother and sister's deaths (her sister was put in Crownsville Hospital Center for epilepsy in 1955) looked toward Rebecca Skloot, the author, for help. She and Deborah went on a search for the information they both dearly desired. I found The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to be a very interesting book because I found that the book mixed together human interest and science all in one. The book described many scientific discoveries without making it boring or tedious to read. This is one of my favorite books, I highly recommend it.

Hela Cells