2012 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The book is based on the true story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer, whose cells -- known as HeLa to the many scientists who use them -- were taken without her knowledge and used to help develop some of the most important advances in medicine, including the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization and more. Lacks was never recognized or compensated for the use of her cells.