Henrietta Lacks Critique

I have read the first half of the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a book about a woman in the 1950s who had cancer. The story explains how Henrietta's cells were taken and what happened to them as scientists began to discover more and more about cells and cancer. I most enjoyed learning about the way that patients were treated in hospitals during the 1950s, and the differences in treatment of people of different races. They did not ask their patients if they would like to donate their cells, which is what caused Henrietta's cells to be taken. Also, although I was already aware that the treatment of mentally ill people was terrible in the 1950s, but I was disgusted that Henrietta's daughter was actually diagnosed with "idiocy." Henrietta's cells were taken without permission, and were used for many
scientific advancements. Nobody knew whose cells they were, but eventually the newspapers began to expose whose cells they were, but with the wrong names. I think that I would like to share with others who she was, and how the cells affected her life and the generations of her family after her. This is because Henrietta Lacks's cells were taken wrongly, and although they did good things, her family had to suffer because of it. Parts of the book are written from the perspective of Rebecca Skloot, the Author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. She explains that she had to contact Henrietta's family, which was a hard task. None of her present day relatives wanted to speak about the cells since it was such a sore subject in their family. They had also had many other people want to interview them about the cells, and they never liked it. Rebecca eventually was able to interview several family members of Henrietta's to gain the information she needed to write her book. Before reading the book, I wasn't familiar with any of the subjects within it. I hadn't ever heard of Henrietta Lacks, and didn't know very much about her cells. I suppose I did know what a cell was, a few parts of the cell, and what they did or were used for. If this book had been written twenty years earlier than it had, the information and stories within it could be dramatically different from what they are now. There could have been people that knew Henrietta very well that could have passed away in the course of those twenty years. She may have not been able to contact the same people because of location or willingness to speak out. Also, it is apparent that science and the understanding of certain illnesses progresses over time. There might not have been the same knowledge about cells and cancer available to the author while she researched and wrote the book. More facts were strewn throughout the book this way than it would have been two decades earlier, there is simply more information on cells and cancer. Overall, I believe the book would be less informative without the knowledge of the overall subject of the book, but it could have been more accurate with the storyline and plot during points where narratives of the family were. I predict the structure of the book will continue out to the second half without any change, but the stories will progress.
Where I stopped, there were many different stories, some of which very interesting. I think there will be more information about Henrietta's children's lives, and how they grew up. Up to this point, I have enjoyed the sections where the author shares what happens to the children after their mother died, and they have to cope. I hope these stories will continue and progress, but I am aware there won't be much of an ending since it is a factual book. I would like to know the outcomes of Joe and Deborah's lives, after all of the hardships they have been through this far. Mostly, I would like to see more information on the HeLa cells, also information about Henrietta's family. In conclusion, after reading half of the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I have learned a substantial amount about Henrietta Lacks and how her cells were taken without her permission. I have also been taught about what cells can do, and other facts about medical procedures in the mid 1900s; more than I would have known had I not read the
book.