Henrietta Lacks: The Mother of Modern Medicine
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
This post is a summary and follow-up to some of the things I learned aboutHenrietta Lacks through AAMLA's Experience MLA in February. The African American Caucus
of the Medical Library Association (AAMLA) hosted a 3-week online book discussion of
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by journalist Rebecca Skloot.
In small group discussions with facilitators, participants had the opportunity to thoughtfully
In small group discussions with facilitators, participants had the opportunity to thoughtfully
grapple with some of the ethical, health equity, patient-provider communication
and other difficult issues raised by the case. I was grateful for the opportunity:
Some books are definitely better discussed!
Download the complete reader’s guide (pdf) for book discussion groups. It includes:
- discussion questions
- timeline
- cast of characters and more ...
Informationist at The NIH. The Bright Talk below is similar:
Bright Talk from November 2019Presented by:Chris Belter, Informationist at the NIH Library, and Holly J. Falk-Krzesinski,
PhD, ICSR Advisory Board Member & VP, Elsevier
About this talk:In 1951, a young black woman named Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with
cervical cancer. During her treatment, her doctor took a sample of her cells
and tried to grow them in culture. The cells, called HeLa cells, were the first
human cells that could be grown in a laboratory and are still the most widely
studied cells in biomedical research, having led to treatments for diseases
such as polio, HIV, and cancer.
The NIH created this site in response to The Lacks Family asking exactly what wonderful
and amazing scientific advances came of their mother's HeLa cells. This is the result of
Chris Belter's project above ... in plain language.
After analyzing more than 110,000 research papers published between 1953 and 2016,
the website includes a timeline showing some of the major scientific advances
made possible by the immortal HeLa cells, including:
- laying the groundwork for the polio vaccine
- helping scientists understand the effects of x-rays on human cells
- developing cancer research methods
- Research on infectious diseases such as how do salmonella and TB make people sick
- slowing cancer growth
- understanding HIV infection
- learning how cells age
- understanding how viruses cause certain cancers
- Efforts to protect privacy while advancing science.
Looking for even more information, see this excellent guide from Columbia College:
Episode 70 of This Podcast will Kill You: Henrietta Lacks: HeLa, There, & Everywhere
If you don't have time to read the book, consider watching the HBO movie.
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