The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks

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Language:
English
Accelerated Reader:
IL: UG - BL: 8 - AR Pts: 18
Lexile measure:
1140L
Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The story of modern medicine and bioethics—and, indeed, race relations—is refracted beautifully, and movingly.”—Entertainment Weekly

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM HBO® STARRING OPRAH WINFREY AND ROSE BYRNE • ONE OF THE “MOST INFLUENTIAL” (CNN), “DEFINING” (LITHUB), AND “BEST” (THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER) BOOKS OF THE DECADE • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS • WINNER OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE HEARTLAND PRIZE FOR NONFICTION

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Entertainment Weekly • O: The Oprah Magazine • NPR • Financial Times • New York • Independent (U.K.) • Times (U.K.) • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • Kirkus Reviews • Booklist • Globe and Mail

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which 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, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. 

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family—past and present—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. 

Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah. Deborah was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Had they killed her to harvest her cells? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance? 

Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.
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ISBN:
9781400052189
9781410427922
9780307712509
9780307712530
9780307589385
Accelerated Reader:
UG
Level 8, 18 Points
Lexile measure:
1140L
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Grouping Information

Grouped Work IDd01697dd-cba6-c4e6-eb26-cd115e7bb0c4
Grouping Titleimmortal life of henrietta lacks
Grouping Authorrebecca skloot
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2023-03-23 03:51:40AM
Last Indexed2023-03-23 04:17:07AM

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auth_author2
Campbell, Cassandra
Turpin, Bahni
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display_description
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.
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Audio Books
Books
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id
d01697dd-cba6-c4e6-eb26-cd115e7bb0c4
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9781400052189
9781410427922
itype_addison
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last_indexed
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lexile_score
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literary_form
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literary_form_full
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local_callnumber_addison
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Online OverDrive
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owning_library_addison
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Online OverDrive Collection
primary_isbn
9781400052189
publishDate
2010
2011
2017
publisher
Books on Tape
Broadway Paperbacks
Crown
Random House Audio
Thorndike Press
recordtype
grouped_work
series
Thorndike Press large print nonfiction
series_with_volume
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subject_facet
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African American women
African American women -- Health and hygiene
African American women -- History
African Americans
Audiobooks
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Medical
Biographies
Biography
Biography & Autobiography
Cancer -- Patients
Cancer -- Patients -- Biography
Cancer -- Patients -- Virginia -- Biography
Cancer -- Research
Cell culture
Cells
Confidentiality -- ethics
Downloadable audio books
Electronic books
HEALTH & FITNESS -- Diseases -- General
HeLa cells
Health
Hela Cells
History
History, 20th Century
Human Experimentation -- ethics
Human experimentation in medicine
Human experimentation in medicine -- United States -- History
Lacks, Henrietta, -- 1920-1951
Lacks, Henrietta, -- 1920-1951 -- Health
Large type books
MEDICAL -- Clinical Medicine
MEDICAL -- Diseases
MEDICAL -- Evidence-Based Medicine
MEDICAL -- Internal Medicine
Medical ethics
Nonfiction
Prejudice
Science
Tissue Donors
Tissue and Organ Procurement -- ethics
United States
Virginia
Young adult literature
e-book [online only] -- OverDrive
title_display
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
title_full
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks / Rebecca Skloot
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks [CD sound recording] / Rebecca Skloot
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks [LARGE PRINT]/ Rebecca Skloot
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks [electronic resource] / Rebecca Skloot
title_short
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
topic_facet
African American Nonfiction
African American women
African Americans
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Biography & Autobiography
Cancer
Cell culture
Cells
Clinical Medicine
Confidentiality
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Evidence-Based Medicine
General
HEALTH & FITNESS
HeLa cells
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Health and hygiene
Hela Cells
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Human Experimentation
Human experimentation in medicine
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Lacks, Henrietta
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OverDrive
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