Shining a light on dark history of experimentation on blacks [The Record, Stockton, Calif.]
By Lori Gilbert, The Record, Stockton, Calif. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Specifically, the HeLa cells, the subject of Skloot's
"They had them when I got here in 1994," said
The professor knows the cancer cells, which since being removed from
Skloot changed that, introducing
Skloot, who dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, was taking a biology class in a community college at the age of 16 when she was introduced to the cells of
"My teacher,
It wasn't until after she'd earned a bachelor's of science degree and a master's of fine arts degree and became a science journalist that Skloot had the opportunity to answer that question, "Who was
"The Immortal Life of
"I hear from many readers who are interested in science, but I also hear from countless others who say, 'I have no interest in science, in fact, I hate science, but I loved this story,' " Skloot wrote in an email. "Often they're amazed by that fact. It thrills me to hear from readers who are surprised to find themselves reading and enjoying a book they thought of as a science book, but it doesn't surprise me. I think one of the reasons this story has touched so many people is because there isn't a single person out there that hasn't benefitted personally from HeLa cells. Whether it's because you got the polio vaccine, or someone you love survived cancer by being treated with a drug made using HeLa cells, or you or your child were conceived through in vitro fertilization, which HeLa cells helped develop, ... the list of ways HeLa cells impact people on a daily basis is pretty endless. So there's always a point in the book when a reader realizes that. You turn a page and suddenly think, 'Oh, wait -- that's me. My mom is alive today because she took that drug. Or I am. Or my children are.' "
Beyond discovering the benefits of the cells, though, readers are drawn into the story, which reads like a novel. While Henrietta's cells paved the way to medical marvels, her children could not afford health insurance.
Henrietta's eldest daughter, born mentally challenged, had been institutionalized, and had no contact with family once her mother died. The quest to learn about her death there, at 15, with Henrietta's younger daughter, Deborah, provides the emotional peak of Skloot's book.
"The most shocking moment I encountered while researching the book was definitely the trip that Deborah and I took to Crownsville (Institution) to try to find her sister's medical records," Skloot said. "What we found was far more disturbing and shocking than either of us could have imagined. But it was also troubling for me as a reporter -- finding Elsie's photo in Crownsville was one of the events that made me realize it had to be in the book. That trip turned out to be a very dangerous one for Deborah -- by then, I couldn't have stopped her from coming with me if I'd tried at that point, and in the end, she was very relieved to know the information we found, but she came very close to having a stroke on that trip. Neither of us realized going in how physically dangerous that trip really was for her."
The trip shaped the book's narrative, which, beyond the story of a family, cells and science, raises questions about "trust, race and medicine, class, access to education and health care, ... and the impact that losing a mother can have on her children," Skloot said.
All of those issues will be open for discussion when Skloot makes her visit, sponsored by the
"I don't have a message for (the
"But one of the main messages I bring to students anywhere reading the book is the importance of following your curiosity through life. ... When I visit schools, I tell students the story of how I went from that moment of curiosity (in a community college biology class) to becoming a professional writer, because I think it carries an important lesson: Follow your curiosity.
"Take classes that interest you, even if they're outside your major. When you hear things that make you curious, ask questions; follow that curiosity wherever it might lead you, and let yourself get swept away by it when it starts to take you in a direction you didn't imagine going. If I hadn't done that, I would be a veterinarian today, and I'd still be wondering who
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