Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know here as HeLa.  She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells---taken without her knowledge in 1951--became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more.  Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance...

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. *

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* from the book's cover