Raising questions about privacy, medical research, and ethics, Rebecca Skloot spent more than a decade researching the history of Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cells. Just before her death from cervical cancer, Henrietta Lack's cells were taken without her permission and scientists figured out how to keep them alive indefinitely. The created cell line was then used for countless medical research.

Interspersing the history of Henrietta's family, who can't even afford medical insurance, with the medical use of her cells which created a billion-dollar industry, Skloot has penned a memorable work.