Crown. Used - Good. . . All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.

Synopsis

Rebecca Skloot is an award-winning science writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; Discover; and many others. She is coeditor of The Best American Science Writing 2011 and has worked as a correspondent for NPR’s Radiolab and PBS’s Nova ScienceNOW . She was named one of five surprising leaders of 2010 by the Washington Post . Skloot's debut book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, took more than a decade to research and write, and instantly became a New York Times bestseller. It was chosen as a best book of 2010 by more than sixty media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly , People, and the New York Times . It is being translated into more than twenty-five languages, adapted into a young reader edition, and being made into an HBO film produced by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball. Skloot is the founder and president of The Henrietta Lacks Foundation. She has a B.S. in biological sciences and an MFA in creative nonfiction. She has taught creative writing and science journalism at the University of Memphis, the University of Pittsburgh, and New York University. She lives in Chicago. For more information, visit her website at RebeccaSkloot.com, where you’ll find links to follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Reviews

On Mar 10 2011, AbbeyRheinhartt said:

This is a historically significant book that captures three important points: (1) the lack of ethics in medical research, particularly informed consent; (2) how this lack of medical consent affected a simple African-American family of relatively no sophistication; and (3)that the family of Henrietta Lacks cannot afford health insurance, notwithstanding the enormity of her contribution to science.During 1951, Henrietta Lacks went to Johns Hopkins with a "knot" in her cervix. The biopsy revealed cancer. Tissue was removed and cultured. The cancer was unique in that it continued to grow in a laboratory setting, and were named HeLa cells for their source, Henrietta Lacks. These particular cells were unique in that they do not observe the Hayflick limit, which is the usual lifetime of cancerous cells.These cells were used in the testing by Jonas Salk for his polio vaccine, and are used so regularly in the scientific community that it is estimated 300 scientific papers a month are written on the basis of research performed with HeLa cells. Neither Lacks nor her family gave the physician permission to harvest the cells. When the family, who was relatively unsophisticated, learned that "she was being kept alive," they were extremely concerned, and engaged counsel. They did not understand that it was her tumor only.

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

Details

Bookseller: More Than Words Inc. (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: BOS-N-04d-01521
Title: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Author: Rebecca Skloot
Book Condition: Used - Good
Binding: Paperback
ISBN 10: 1400052181
ISBN 13: 9781400052189
Publisher: Crown
Place of Publication: New York
This edition first published: 2011-03-08

Terms of Sale

More Than Words Inc.

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

About the Seller

More Than Words Inc.

This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.

Biblio member since 2016

Waltham, Massachusetts

Ask Seller a Question

About More Than Words Inc.

More Than Words empowers youth who are in foster care, court-involved, homeless or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business. MTW believes that when system-involved youth are challenged with authentic and increasing responsibilities in a business setting, and are given high expectations and a culture of support, they can and will address personal barriers to success, create concrete action plans for their lives, and become contributing members of society. More Than Words began as an online bookselling training program for youth in DCF custody in 2004 and opened its vibrant bookstore on Moody St in Waltham in 2005 and added its Starbucks coffee bar in 2008. MTW replicated its model in the South End of Boston in 2011, thereby doubling the number of youth served annually.