Publisher's Synopsis
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERHer name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poorblack tobacco farmer whose cellstaken without her knowledge in 1951became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more.Henrietta's cellshave been bought and sold by the billions, yetshe remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.
