This book is about the origins of an immortal cell line called HeLa taken from a 31-year old African-American mother of 5 who died of cervical cancer in 1951. HeLa is used in research for everything from vaccines (including polio in the 1950s) to cancer and everything in between. This cell line is remarkably prolific and long-lasting due to the aggressive nature of the cancer. The author Rebecca Skloot takes us on a personal journey to find the origins of this remarkable cell line that has saved countless human lives!

Rebecca Skloot