Henrietta Lacks immortal for “HeLa cells”

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhuanet) — The first “immortal” human cells, known as “HeLa cells,” are still alive today, though cancer patient Henrietta Lacks has been dead for more than 60 years, according to a new science book published in U.S.

Lacks was a poor tobacco farmer in Southern America, who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells — cut from her cervix just months before she died — became one of the most important tools in medicine.

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” the new book of author Rebecca Skloot, examines the extraordinary — and controversial — scientific contribution made by the young black woman from Baltimore County’s Turners Station community more than a half-century ago. Read more