Book sparks deep thoughts

I recently read "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. I'd heard of it, probably on Fresh Air or Weekend Edition or something, but I hadn't read it. A coworker loaned it to me, so, I read it.

Now, I don't read a lot of nonfiction. Not that I don't like nonfiction, I just don't gravitate to that section in a library or bookstore. This book is the story of a family whose mother was apparently exploited by the medical community. Henrietta Lacks died of cancer in 1951, leaving a husband and five children. Doctors took samples of the cervical cancer she carried, and those cells, known in the scientific community as HeLa cells, didn't die. Most cell samples in those days lasted a few days and then died. These lived.

And her family had no idea.

When they found out that Henrietta's cells were still alive and still being used in research, decades after Henrietta died, they felt betrayed. They were hurt and angry. They didn't want to talk about it to anyone.

Rebecca first heard of Henrietta and her cells in a college science class. That was the beginning of a decade-long journey for her, searching for what really happened to Henrietta and her family and the immortal cells. She had to earn the family's trust - especially Deborah, who was desperate to learn more about her mother. She helped them discover the truth about the cells and helped many of them find some measure of peace.

It was a fascinating read. Rebecca certainly did her research, talking to anyone and everyone she could about HeLa, its origin, its uses. She listened to stories from Henrietta's family and friends, learning everything she could about this relatively young woman and her life. I think she even became a defacto Lacks family member.

But the question that kept rattling around my mind as I read this incredible story was does the end justify the means. HeLa has been used to develop cures for diseases. It's been used in varieties of research around the world. Without HeLa, thousands of people alive today wouldn't be. But the cells were taken without Henrietta's permission. They were used without the family's knowledge. The family has not been compensated at all - or at least they hadn't been when the book was published in 2010.

It's a hard question, though, and one whose answer depends on your viewpoint. From the science end of things, the answer would probably be yes. Look at everything HeLa has helped scientists accomplish. But from the family end of things, the answer would probably be no. They felt they'd been exploited and taken advantage of. They didn't have the money to go after Johns Hopkins, the hospital that treated Henrietta, but family members felt they were owed something they never got.

I don't know the answer.