This highly readable account of how a woman's cells lived on after she died to make medical history is stunning. The story reflects the time period of a prejudicial era that has been portrayed before but not in such a candid record. Even as her cells duplicated themselves, Henrietta's name and family were placed on the side to watch as science took precedence. And although the gains were immense, what is the cost?

Fantastic how medical science has used these cells to help us all. Also, quite sad is our history about how this all came about. I was disgusted when I heard about the Tuskagee Syphillis experiments and how many people, particularly black, unemployed, were taken advantage of. It was a bitter sweet story and I am glad to have read about it. I will reccomend it to many.

This book is an excellent social commentary on the value of research and the tensions between personal rights and public interst. The ethical dilemma entwined in a real life story of the tragic life of a woman makes the book compelling reading

This book was dreadful. I have to give Skloot credit for the brave attempt and interesting subject matter, but otherwise, this book had no redeeming value. It was poorly written and lacked any kind of focus. I would have been much more interested learning about Henrietta than about what her children have been doing since they discovered the use of the cells. I also felt as though the author didn't understand a lot of the technical science involved ... and it showed in her writing. It was hard to determine the author's intentions in writing this book ... half the time it seemed as though she was simply trying to make a fool out of everyone involved from Henrietta and her family to the doctors. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Given I am a socialist, the right to compensation for harvested medical material (i.e. to live off one's family's assets) is a non-issue. Everyone, including Henrietta Lacks, has a right to live up his potential, and to give back to the world. It's a pity this was the way she gave back, but it's definitely something. The poverty-stricken horribleness of Henrietta's family, and the cluelessness of the researchers' treatment of them, is the real point of the book. What moved me was her daughter's search for knowledge, especially about her lost sister.

We're currently reading this title for our monthly book discussion (11-19-11 )@ 10:30 .

I found this book very fascinating and thought it really should be mandatory for anybody who has been effected by any sort of research that has been done on HeLa cells. Honestly I had never even heard of HeLa cells before I had read the book and now that I ask people if they know what HeLa cells are, very few people know about them, and yet most everybody has been affected by the research on them in some way. I would highly recommend this book on so many levels because it not only deals with the reasons behind the HeLa cells, but also everything that ensued as a result of the research on HeLa cells. A very fascinating read.

Joyce and Sharon kiperstock 10/11

I never heard of Henrietta Lacks and her HeLa cells. After reading Rebecca Skloot's book, I'm more informed about this woman and her "donation" to modern science. The best book I've read in two years.

Interesting from a scientific and historical perspective. Tedious, blah writing.