Science writer Rebbecca Skloot recently appeared on the Colbert Nation to discuss her new book
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. When Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cancer in 1951, doctors took her cells and immortalized them in test tubes. Since then these cells have led to significant scientific and medical breakthroughs.
In fact HeLa cells were vital in the development of the polio vaccine and have been used in various fields of research involving cancer, viruses, and even the effects of radiation from the atom bomb.
