The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017) on Netflix
TV-MA20171h 33mBiographyDramaHistoryMystery
Rebecca Skloot writes about Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells, taken in 1951, became the first immortal human cell line. In her research she befriends Henrietta's daughter, Deborah.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb6.4/104,309 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes69%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1951, Henrietta Lacks gives birth and suffers complications. A biopsy taken weeks later confirms cervical cancer. Cells from her tumor are cultured, and the cell biologist George Gey finds that they can keep dividing. Cells grown from other people last only days in a laboratory; hers do not. The line known as HeLa becomes the first immortal human cell line and goes into wide use in medical research. At the time, doctors in the United States routinely keep from patients the fact that cells from their bodies are used in this way. Rebecca Skloot, who writes about Henrietta, comes to know Deborah, Henrietta's daughter.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Henrietta Lacks died in October 1951 without ever being told that cells taken from her tumor were being used for research; keeping that from patients was common practice in the United States at the time.
