The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

　　她的本名是海莉耶塔．拉克斯，但科學家都稱呼她「海拉」（HeLa）。

　　她是美國南方的貧窮菸農，罹患子宮頸癌後，腫瘤細胞被醫師取走，成為醫學史上最早經由人工培養而「長生不死」的細胞，她卻不知情。

　　海拉細胞是研發小兒痲痺疫苗的功臣，協助科學家解開癌症、病毒和原子彈效應的奧祕，促成試管嬰兒、基因複製、基因圖譜的重要發展，並造就了總值超過幾十億美元的人體生物材料產業。現在海拉細胞依然持續繁衍，總重量相當於100座帝國大廈。

　　然而這60年來，海莉耶塔埋在毫不起眼的墓地裡，沒沒無聞。她的家人沒有享受到細胞帶來的利益，甚至在她死後20多年才驚覺她的「永生不死」。她的女兒得知母親細胞的事，心中哀痛欲絕、充滿疑問：科學家算不算一直複製她母親？拿母親的細胞做實驗，她感覺得到嗎？既然她母親對現代醫學如此重要，她的兒女怎麼會付不起健康保險費用？

　　作者史克魯特耗費十多年挖掘這段精彩歷史，記述拉克斯一家從震驚、憤怒到驕傲的動人歷程，也討論人體實驗的黑暗過去、醫學研究倫理的興起，以及身體組織所有權的法律問題。本書情感觸動人心、格局宏偉，細膩捕捉科學發現的高潮迭起，以及對人類的深邃影響。

　　★本書中譯版《海拉細胞的不死傳奇》由遠流出版。

Now an HBO(R) Film starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells--taken without her knowledge in 1951--became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.

作者簡介

芮貝卡．史克魯特（Rebecca Skloot）

　　是得獎的科學作家，作品散見《紐約時報雜誌》、《歐普拉雜誌》、《發現》、《預防》、《魅力》等雜誌，曾任職美國公共廣播電台《電台實驗室》（Radiolab）和美國公共電視網《新星今日科學》（NOVA ScienceNOW）節目的記者，也是《大眾科學》雜誌的特約編輯。她的作品曾收錄在數本選集中，包括《最佳飲食寫作》（The Best Food Writin）和《最具創意非小說》（The Best Creative Nonfiction）。

　　史克魯特曾任美國國家書評會（National Book Critics Circle）副主席，在曼菲斯大學和匹茲堡大學開設非小說類的創意寫作課程，也在紐約大學教科學新聞寫作。《海拉細胞的不死傳奇》是她的第一本書，出版後旋即成為紐約時報暢銷書。她目前住在芝加哥。更多介紹請見她的網站：RebeccaSkloot.com。

REBECCA SKLOOT is an award-winning science writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; Discover; and many others. She is coeditor of The Best American Science Writing 2011 and has worked as a correspondent for NPR’s Radiolab and PBS’s Nova ScienceNOW. She was named one of five surprising leaders of 2010 by the Washington Post. Skloot’s debut book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, took more than a decade to research and write, and instantly became a New York Times bestseller. It was chosen as a best book of 2010 by more than sixty media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly, People, and the New York Times. It is being translated into more than twenty-five languages, adapted into a young reader edition, and being made into an HBO film produced by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball. Skloot is the founder and president of The Henrietta Lacks Foundation. She has a B.S. in biological sciences and an MFA in creative nonfiction. She has taught creative writing and science journalism at the University of Memphis, the University of Pittsburgh, and New York University. She lives in Chicago. For more information, visit her website at RebeccaSkloot.com, where you’ll find links to follow her on Twitter and Facebook.