Whatcha Readin' Wednesday

How much of ourselves do we really own? Once we lose a piece of ourselves, is it still ours? These questions and many more are the topic of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Lacks was a young, African-American woman who died from complications from cervical cancer in 1951 after receiving treatment from Johns Hopkins Hospital. Before her death, her doctor took a culture of cells from her tumor that would later be known as HeLa cells, the building blocks for many medical breakthroughs over the past 50 years. Unfortunately, Lacks' cells were taken without her knowledge or her family's permission. Skloot handles the story of Henrietta Lacks and her family with the utmost sensitivity while simultaneously turning a harsh eye on the ethical dilemma that made Lacks immortal.

Review by Allison West, check it out in this month's issue of Numéro!