The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a book that includes her biography, then her childhood to her tragic death; the story of her family over various decades; Skloot’s research and her relationship with the Lacks family, especially Deborah; and the story of the HeLa cells. Henrietta Lacks was known by scientists as HeLa was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells were taken without her knowledge in 1951, and then became one of the most important tools in medicine. They were necessary for the development of the polio vaccine, cloning, and much more scientific developments. A doctor at Johns Hopkins took a piece of her tumor without her consent and then sent it down to scientists who been trying to grow tissues in culture for decades. Henrietta's …show more content…
in biological sciences and an MFA in creative nonfiction" (Being Wicked). She lives in Chicago, where she is currently working on a book about animals, science, and humans. Before she became a writer, she spent her time working as a veterinary technician in from animal shelters and research labs. She taught science journalism and creative writing at the University of Memphis, the University of Pittsburgh, and New York University. She first heard about Henrietta in a community college biology class when she was just 16. While she continued her studies, she became obsessed with the idea of telling Henrietta’s story she spent over a "decade researching and writing" about the story (Being Wicked). She continued this dream and now her book has been emphasized in the 60 critics’ best of the year lists. She is the winner of several awards, including the 2010 Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Nonfiction the 2010 Wellcome Trust Book Prize. Skloot is founder and president of the Henrietta Lacks Foundation, a "non profit organization that provides financial assistance to needy individuals" (Being Wicked). Which has made significant contributions to scientific research without personally benefitting from those