The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Essay
Bloom, Stacie. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Rev. of Book. Journal of Clinical Investigation 7th ser. 120 (2010): 2252. ProQuest. Web. 26 Mar. 2012.
Dr. Stacie Bloom was surprised at how much she enjoyed reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. She assumed the book would be “beneath her”. After all, what could a book about HeLa cells written for the layperson teach an accomplished Director of Science (at the NY Academy of Sciences) with an extensive background in cell and molecular biology (that she didn’t already know)? Already somewhat familiar with Skloot’s reputation as a science writer for the NY Academy of Sciences, Bloom decided to give the book a chance. She discovered a narrative that both “amazed” and excited her. The story focused on the back-story of HeLa cells by interweaving a narrative between “Henrietta Lacks”, a poor African American mother with five small children, and the cancerous cells that wreaked havoc on her body. These cells had the rare “heartiness” required to survive in culture, resulting in the first robust human cell line. The consequence of this “immortality” would change …show more content…
She mentions the lack of financial compensation given to Lacks’ children and sites that they were “too poor to even buy a headstone” and unable to afford basic health insurance. Bloom calls their plight “heartbreaking” and seems truly moved by their dilemma to understand “HeLa” and the legacy their mother left behind. She champions Skloot for explaining the “concept of the cells” to Deborah Lacks and deduces that Skloot succeeded in convincing Deborah that her mother (Henrietta) “has not and cannot be cloned”. (I personally believe Skloot wanted us to feel as though she brought some “peace” to the Lacks children, which is how Bloom interprets
Dr. Stacie Bloom was surprised at how much she enjoyed reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. She assumed the book would be “beneath her”. After all, what could a book about HeLa cells written for the layperson teach an accomplished Director of Science (at the NY Academy of Sciences) with an extensive background in cell and molecular biology (that she didn’t already know)? Already somewhat familiar with Skloot’s reputation as a science writer for the NY Academy of Sciences, Bloom decided to give the book a chance. She discovered a narrative that both “amazed” and excited her. The story focused on the back-story of HeLa cells by interweaving a narrative between “Henrietta Lacks”, a poor African American mother with five small children, and the cancerous cells that wreaked havoc on her body. These cells had the rare “heartiness” required to survive in culture, resulting in the first robust human cell line. The consequence of this “immortality” would change …show more content…
She mentions the lack of financial compensation given to Lacks’ children and sites that they were “too poor to even buy a headstone” and unable to afford basic health insurance. Bloom calls their plight “heartbreaking” and seems truly moved by their dilemma to understand “HeLa” and the legacy their mother left behind. She champions Skloot for explaining the “concept of the cells” to Deborah Lacks and deduces that Skloot succeeded in convincing Deborah that her mother (Henrietta) “has not and cannot be cloned”. (I personally believe Skloot wanted us to feel as though she brought some “peace” to the Lacks children, which is how Bloom interprets