The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot

June 2, 2011 – A fascinating book. A non-fiction account of a woman whose cells have furthered science and medicine more than any other single factor in the last 60 years. Journalist/author Rebecca Skloot spent over a decade researching the case of Henrietta Lacks, who entered Johns Hopkins hospital in 1951 where she was diagnosed with malignant cervical cancer. The cells from her tumor are the first “immortal” cells to continue to live in culture medium and have been used around the world for decades in breakthrough medical milestones like the polio vaccine. This story is a total page-turner. The author made it her life’s work to track down the remaining family and to tell the story of the woman responsible for HeLa cells and what became of her family. (Google HeLa cells – amazing!) I highly recommend this book!