Distinguished Speaker Rebecca Skloot Recounts Story Behind The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot, M.F.A.

Encouraging students to “let curiosity and passion get the best of you while you are here,” bestselling author Rebecca Skloot, M.F.A., shared how her own curiosity led her to follow a trail of seemingly random events that culminated with the writing of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Skloot spoke to more than 400 members of the NSU community at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center on Mar. 20, as part of the Distinguished Speakers Series lecture hosted by the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences.

As she explained, Skloot spent years unveiling the mysterious anonymity of a woman whose cells greatly contributed to scientific research––saving others’ lives––while her family lived for decades without knowing the extent of her legacy.

Lacks was a poor tobacco farmer in Baltimore who died of cervical cancer in 1951. Cells derived from her cancerous tumor were harvested without her knowledge and became known in the scientific community as HeLa, an abbreviation of Lacks’ first and last name. In the decades that followed, the “immortal” HeLa line contributed to the development of the polio vaccine, cancer treatment, in-vitro fertilization, and the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine––ironically, the vaccine used to prevent infection from the virus associated with cervical cancer.

Lacks’ children were later used for follow-up research without providing informed consent (which today is required by law), nor did they receive compensation for the commercialization of their mother’s cells.

Skloot’s interest in the Lacks family story began in high school when a biology teacher wrote Henrietta Lacks’ name on the board. Failing at a traditional high school, Skloot was attending an alternative school where she could work at her own pace. She stopped after class to ask the teacher what else he knew about Lacks. He knew very little, he told her, and suggested she research the topic and write an extra-credit report.

“It did light this spark in me, this curiosity,” Skloot recalled during her talk. “I went home, and I couldn’t find out anything about her.”

Later, Skloot enrolled in college where she focused on biology and planned to attend veterinary school. But her life changed course––again at the hands of a teacher who suggested she forego veterinary school and pursue a career in science writing.

“He said to me, ‘letting go of a goal doesn’t mean you failed as long as you have a new goal in its place. That’s not giving up; it’s just changing direction, which can be one of the most important things you do in your life,’” said Skloot, who went on to earn an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction.

In college, she picked up Lacks’ trail again––this time, as part of a thesis project she was pursuing about “forgotten women” in science. She contacted Lacks’ daughter, Deborah, with whom she shared a dogged determination to tell Lacks’ story.

Decades after what began as an extra-credit assignment, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was published in 2010 and became a bestseller examining bioethics in America.

“At its core, the story is about the importance of communication in science and what can go wrong when scientists and health care providers don’t explain things to people,” Skloot said of how Lacks’ family was inadvertently misled by scientists and doctors.

“If you only speak Spanish and you go to the hospital, they’re going to get you a translator. If you walk into a hospital and you don’t ‘speak’ science, they’re not going to get you a science translator,” said Skloot, noting that Lacks’ husband had a fourth-grade education.

Skloot encouraged students to follow their curiosity and remain open to possibilities.

“Don’t have tunnel vision,” she said. “Don’t be so focused on your goals that you don’t allow yourself to know other things—things you can’t imagine right now, things you might unexpectedly fall in love with, things that might change your life just like learning about Henrietta’s cells in biology class changed mine.

“Curiosity is one of the most important things to recognize in ourselves and pay attention to.

Science is all about these moments. One little thing you notice that makes you stop…So much of what we do in any profession has to do with harnessing curiosity and learning to follow it, wherever it leads.”

After her keynote talk, Skloot led a Q&A session with audience members, followed by a book signing and a meet and greet. The next morning, Skloot met with several undergraduate students from the college in a special seminar.