Rebecca Skloot

They were taken without her knowledge, and they changed the world.

I wanted to know how a woman who died in poverty became the most important tool in medicine.

The cells were like nothing anyone had ever seen.

Henrietta’s cells had a life of their own.

The Lacks family was never informed about the existence of these cells.

Her story is a story of racism in the medical community.

HeLa cells have been used in countless scientific breakthroughs.

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa.

Her cells live on, while her story remained largely untold.

Henrietta’s legacy is a complex mix of science and ethics.