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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Archive for the ‘Bioethics’ Category

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Historic Marker to be Placed on Henrietta Lacks’s Home

Tomorrow, the town of Turner Station just outside of Baltimore will place a historic marker at 713 New Pittsburgh Ave, the home where Henrietta Lacks [...]


Saturday, July 24th, 2010

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Chosen as Boston Globe and TED Book Club Picks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is being read by book clubs around the world, including several associated with organizations (like TED) and publications, including [...]


Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Culture Dish Doesn’t Live at ScienceBlogs Anymore

A serious conflict of interest and transparency problem has arisen on ScienceBlogs. Like several other bloggers here, I’m now on a Pepsi-Induced Hiatus, however like like David Dobb’s and Blake Stacy, my hiatus from ScienceBlogs will be permanent.


Thursday, July 1st, 2010

First Experiment to Attempt Prevention of Homosexuality in Womb? Really?

A study involving off-label use of dexamethasone in pregnant women (without IRB oversight) is being called “The First Experiment to Attempt Prevention of Homosexuality.” Is it?


Saturday, May 29th, 2010

A Historic Day: Henrietta Lacks’s Long Unmarked Grave Finally Gets a Headstone

Henrietta Lacks (aka HeLa) has been lying in an unmarked grave since her death in 1951. Today, thanks to Dr. Roland Pattillo at Morehouse School of Medicine, who donated a headstone for her after reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, her grave is officially marked. Photo included.


Thursday, May 13th, 2010

HeLa Onscreen: Oprah and Alan Ball to Make Film of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for HBO

This just in: Oprah and Alan Ball will be making the movie version of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for HBO. Skloot talks about the film, speculation about actors, and why HBO is the perfect home for the HeLa movie.


Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks FAQ #2: Did Skloot really flunk high school?

As part of an ongoing series answering FAQs about her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot dishes on the fact that yes, it’s true, she flunked high school.


Monday, April 5th, 2010

Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks FAQ#1: How did Skloot learn about HeLa cells?

As part of an ongoing series answering FAQs about her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot talks about how she first learned about the cells at 16 and why they grabbed her enough to spend decades writing a book about them.


Friday, February 12th, 2010

Immortal Cells; Moral Issues

Today’s Baltimore Sun features a great OpEd by Ruth Faden, director of the bioethics institute at Johns Hopkins, exploring the ethical and moral issues raised [...]


Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Countdown to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks & Press Roundup

I’ve been posting about my impending book tour, and all the great coverage the book has been getting, on Twitter and Facebook, but thought I’d also post a bit of an update and press round up here, for those who (gasp) don’t spend all of their time in those places.


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About the Book

Doctors took her cells without asking. Those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multimillion-dollar industry. More than twenty years later, her children found out. Their lives would never be the same.

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