Adam Kay is a former doctor in the UK's National Health Service turned comedian, and the author of
This is Going to Hurt. One of his five favorite medical reads, as shared at the Waterstones blog:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 of cervical cancer. During her treatment, abnormal cells were taken at a biopsy that would turn out to be the most important cell-line in scientific history. HeLa cells – grown from her original biopsy - are what’s known as immortal cells, and have since been used in millions of scientific experiments, from finding the polio vaccine to research into cancer and AIDS. But the cells were taken without Henrietta’s permission. This is an extraordinary book: a tale of ethics, race and what is means to be human, as much as about medical science.
Read about
the other entries on the list.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is among
Austin Duffy's top ten books about cancer.
--Marshal Zeringue
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