Author Rebecca Skloot discovered the story of Henrietta Lacks in a college classroom during the 1980s. The initial curiosity led to a ten-year journey cumulating in her book, ""The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks."" Following multiple story lines, Skloot details the life of Henrietta Lacks and her family, as well as the unique existence of her cells. Taken without her consent during a period where medical ethics were still in question, Henrietta Lacks' cells (nicknamed HeLa) became the first cell line to grow and reproduce in culture. Starting in the 1950s, HeLa cells have been used in a variety of ways, including forming the first polio vaccine. Her cells have had lasting effects on science and her family. With her book chosen for this year's UW Go Big Read program, Rebecca Skloot took time to discuss her writing with The Daily Cardinal:
Why do you think this is relevant for University students to read today?
For starters, there isn't a single person out there who hasn't benefited in some way from these cells, students or otherwise. If you've gotten a vaccine, you've taken drugs, your parents have taken drugs. Everyone's life has been affected in some way by these cells. So I think it's really important for students to read it whether they're science students, students in the humanities, students interested in law, whatever it is. All these different areas have a very personal connection to these cells. Both because people in each of the fields have benefited from them, but also because there are specific parts of the story that are relevant to all those different fields.
It's sort of incredible in that sense, there aren't so many stories in science where it's really obvious the way that science affects everyone's life and all these different fields of study. People often see science as being very separate and I think one of the reasons it is important for students to read this is to see not only how they personally have been affected by the science in the book, but also to see how science connects to so many other fields that people don't always imagine that it does.
Are there any common misconceptions by some readers about the book?
Scientists often assume that it's a book that sort of demonizes science in some way or tells the story of evil scientists who've done something bad to this poor family. Another common misconception ... is that they often assume that I made some of it up. Every detail in the story is verifiable in various ways and this is part of what took ten years to get the story together.
I've also heard there is going to be an HBO movie coming out?
Yes, there is. It's going to be produced by Oprah. It's very exciting.
Are any of the proceeds from the movie going toward the Lacks family?
Yes, I've always seen the movie as something able to benefit the family quite a bit. So, I specifically negotiated things with the movie. They'll [the Lacks family] actually be getting paid for their time to be consultants, but then there will also be a large donation going toward helping the family with education costs and things like that.
You wrote the book in three different angles: Your journey, Henrietta's life and the science behind it. Did you write the different parts at the same time?
Initially, I actually tried to write them in a broken up way where I'd write a little bit of one and then I learned that's just enough to make a person go crazy. Then I realized for some sort of narrative flow and various other reasons it was important to write each one as its own story and then break it apart and weave them together.
Your father is also an author, do the two of you discuss your writing processes?
Oh yes, a lot. We talk about writing all the time and we read each other's stuff. I read his stuff and give him comments and he reads mine. And my mother too, my mother went to graduate school for English literature, so she was always an incredibly helpful critic.
In Madison the upcoming midterm election might have a significant impact on how the university can do stem cell research. Does your book relate to this issue?
Not so much actually. You know people often sort of assume that it does, but the connection between HeLa cells and stem cells is really that the technology used to grow stem cells was developed using HeLa cells. But they're completely different political entities, and HeLa cell research couldn't replace stem cell research. This is one of the things that gets caught up with this debate about stem cells, is that people think, ""Well why do you need them we have all these other cells?"" like HeLa cells and this cell, but they're completely different. There are things you can do with stem cells that you can't do with any other kinds of cells.
There is a Body Worlds exhibit currently in Madison. These types of exhibits have raised controversy over issues of consent. What do you think should be done about requiring consent?
For a lot of different types of research and for things like art, consent is just something that needs to be obtained before you do something with someone's body. Whether they are alive or dead, whether it's a little tiny cell taken from their body or whether it's something larger than that and I think that's pretty universally accepted at this time. Except for the cell part they're still debating about that a lot.
When it comes to donating your body for art, I'm not sure which Body World (this is in Madison). There are a lot of different types of exhibits out there now, some of them are very clear about the consent, what it is people are consenting to, and there are people who are very involved in the process. They go to these conventions every year where all the people who will someday be donating their bodies to this kind of art get together. So there are some people who are very aware of what it is. But there are other cases that have been controversial where the consent is not so clear, where maybe they thought they were giving their bodies to medical research and science, not realizing that their body could end up on display at a museum somewhere. So I think part of the discussion is just about how much information do you include, what is informed consent in a case like this.
On the UW campus the ethics of primate research has been in question. Do you have an opinion on human versus primate research?
I think every person has their own sort of personal feelings and opinions about it, but it's not something I really take a stand about one way or another. One of the points behind mass producing HeLa cells was to decrease the number of primates that were used in research and to decrease the number of dogs and cats and other animals. Ending it is probably not feasible in that way, but there are certainly many other ways. So I think it's a really important discussion to always have and I think there are a lot of people who are involved in that research who do ask those questions.
Do you have Pulitzer hopes for the book?
No, [laughs] that's not my job, my job is to not think about that at all. I think as a writer you just can't think about that stuff because it's completely out of your hands.
Is there anything else you want university students to know about the book?
One of the things I'll talk about in my larger talk to the school is about how in a lot of ways there are many important take home messages about the book. Some of them are about science and how it affects your life in ways you don't realize and how important it is. Also how important it is to ask questions about the people behind the science both in terms of the scientists as well as the human beings behind the research. But I think for students its also about how a little moment in a classroom can change your life, which is what happened to me.
I learned about HeLa cells when I was a teenager in my first big basic biology class. I was at a community college and just one sentence that my teacher said about these cells changed everything about my life. That was in the late 80's, and here I am now all these years later just having finished a book, the seed of which was planted in my first college class. So for students, that's an important part of the story. Just think about the ways of following your curiosity in a moment during a class can lead you in all these directions you couldn't possibly imagine.
I was going to be a veterinarian. If you had told me my first year of college that I was going to be a science writer I would have been ""Yeah, right."" So you just have no idea about these little things that grab your attention in class. If you actually follow up on them and say, wait, what is it that will let me learn more about that and follow this path and see where it leads me. It can just take you all sorts of amazing places.
Rebecca Skloot will be on the UW campus on Monday, October 25, speaking to the campus community at 7:00 pm. in the Kohl Center. No ticket is required for this event.
