Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer and viruses; helped lead to in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [338]-358) and index.

Life. The exam ... 1951 ; Clover ... 1920-1942 ; Diagnosis and treatment ... 1951 ; The birth of HeLa ... 1951 ; "Blackness be spreadin all inside ... 1951 ; "Lady's on the phone" ... 1999 ; The death and life of cell culture ... 1951 ; "A miserable specimen ... 1951 ; Turner Station ... 1999 ; The other side of the tracks ... 1999 ; "The devil of pain itself" ... 1951 -- Death. The storm ... 1951 ; The HeLa factory ... 1951-1953 ; Helen Lane ... 1953-1954 ; "Too young to remember" ... 1951-1965 ; "Spending eternity in the same place" ... 1999 ; Illegal, immoral, and deplorable ... 1954-1966 ; "Strangest hybrid" ... 1960-1966 ; "The most critical time on this earth is now" ... 1966-1973 ; The HeLa bomb ... 1966 ; Night doctors ... 2000 ; "The fame she so richly deserves" ... 1970-1973 -- Immortality. "It's alive" ... 1973-1974 ; "Least they can do" ... 1975 ; "Who told you you could sell my spleen?" ... 1976-1988 ; Breach of privacy ... 1980-1985 ; The secret of immortality ... 1984-1995 ; After London ... 1996-1999 ; A village of Henriettas ... 2000 ; Zakariyya ... 2000 ; Hela, goddess of death ... 2000-2001 ; "All that's my mother" ... 2001 ; The hospital for the Negro insane ... 2001 ; The medical records ... 2001 ; Soul cleansing ... 2001 ; Heavenly bodies ... 2001 ; "Nothing to be scared about" ... 2001 ; The long road to Clover ... 2009 -- Where they are now.