Switching to non-fiction, this is the story of one of the most important tools in medicine, the HeLa cell line.

The cells were taken without her knowledge from Henrietta Lacks who died from cervical cancer in 1951.  This book is the story of the cell line and the family of Mrs. Lacks.

The story has been featured on RadioLab (

link

) and Science Friday (

link

,

book review

) among others.

As the story has come out, controversy has arisen over whether: her family should be compensated; is this exploitation of a minority family; and is this a result of holding science too high?

This is a book that Susan read in her Houston book club.  She said it had her by the second page.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday,

February 26th.