Air date: May 2, 2010

Hosts: Eric Meslin, PhD, Barbara Lewis

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Interview: Rebecca Skloot, author
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Today, we’re going to focus the entire hour on one remarkable story, on a chapter in medical history that combines questions of medical research and bioethics with issues of race and class and of doing the "right thing." If only it were so simple.

Our guest for this hour is Rebecca Skloot, whose book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" has been on several best-seller lists all spring.

Skloot is a science writer who spent the past decade researching the story of a poor African American woman named Henrietta Lacks who died of cervical cancer in 1951.

While Lacks was being treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, a sample of her cancerous cells was taken and given to a hospital pathologist working on cell culture studies.

Nearly 60 years later, those cells are still alive. For a reason that remained mysterious for years, Henrietta Lacks’ cells kept growing, and growing, overwhelming any tissue sample they came near.

Now, virtually any scientist in the world who works in the field of cell culture has worked with what became known as HeLa cells – the short version of Lacks’ name.

Additional Resources:

• Visit the Henrietta Lacks Foundation, founded by Rebecca Skloot.

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