The story of a poor black woman who died young of cervical cancer and what happened to her cancer cells; her cancer cells were cultured by scientists and have grown with vigor since 1951. They were used in many research projects, some of great benefit to mankind such as the polio vaccine, and some pretty damn unethical (injecting patients with cancer cells without their knowledge and permission). Skloot spent years getting to know Henrietta Lacks's family and the story of Henrietta the person as well as the story of Henrietta's cells (called HeLa). The stories themselves naturally speak to the issues of medical and scientific research ethics as well as what it means and meant to be poor and black in 20th century Virginia and Baltimore.