Skloot published The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a book detailing her investigation, in 2010 and Oprah Winfrey's production company, Harpo Films, bought the rights that same year. The science reporter contacted Deborah, and the two set out to research everything they could find about the HeLa cells, giving Skloot a look into the scientific discovery HeLa provided while giving Deborah a deeper connection to the mother she never knew.
And, by the time they did, the ethics and laws about medical tissue and research were so complicated and outdated there was little they could do about it. The only problem? The Lacks family had no idea this was happening until over 20 years after her death. HeLa cells have been used in experiments and medical breakthroughs ever since. Cells from Lacks, dubbed HeLa, were studied by scientists and became the first immortal cells ever discovered (they continued to multiply and survive in the lab). Little did she know that her mother's cells would be harvested at John Hopkins Hospital, where she was being treated. Adapted from the book of the same name, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the true story of Deborah Lacks and reporter Rebecca Skloot, as they embark on a search to find out what happened to Henrietta Lacks, Deborah's mother who became the source of a great deal of modern medicine.ĭeborah was just a toddler when her mother died of cancer in 1951. HBO's newest original film, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, explores the ethics of medical testing and the legacy of a family burdened by tragedy.