Rebecca Skloot

Rebecca Skloot is an American science writer and journalist whose debut book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010) became one of the most celebrated works of science narrative nonfiction of the twenty-first century. The book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman from Baltimore whose cancer cells were taken without her knowledge in 1951 and became the first human cells successfully grown in a laboratory—cells now known as the HeLa cell line, used in the development of the polio vaccine, cancer research, and countless other scientific advances. Skloot spent more than a decade reporting and writing the book, which interweaves the science of cell biology with the history of medical ethics, race, and poverty in America. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list, was adapted into an HBO film starring Oprah Winfrey, and won the Goodreads Choice Award for Nonfiction in 2010 among many other honours. It is widely taught in universities and high schools across the United States. Skloot is also the founder of the Henrietta Lacks Foundation, which provides scholarships and financial assistance to the Lacks family and others who have had their biological materials used without consent for research. She lives in Chicago.