BOOK SUMMARY:A book that I am constantly recommending; The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is part medical mystery, part family drama and part historical reading. It chronicles the life of a woman known to the science and medical community only by her cells, HeLa, immortal human tissues cells that grew in culture indefinitely. Her cells have made amazing things possible--cloning, in-vitro fertilization, the polio vaccine, even the atom bomb. But the woman behind the cells is almost never talked about; a poor tobacco farmer with cancer, doctors took her cells without her permission and she died from radiation poisoning, impoverished. Her family, to this day, also lives in poverty. A wonderful read that will really change your perspective on countless topics; the plight of African Americans and the medical system, insane asylums, medical ethics, you name it.
BUY THE BOOK: http://www.amazon.com/The-Immortal-Life-Henrietta-Lacks/dp/1594134324
