The Immortal Woman
Episode 36 · Sep 18, 05:21 AM
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Henrietta Lacks was a medical miracle. There was something special happening in her body that would change medicine forever. Thing is, no one ever told her. Or her family. They just took the cells, and left the Lacks in the dark for decades.
In 1951, a young mother from Baltimore walked into Johns Hopkins for cancer treatment and never walked back out. But a piece of her did — and it's still alive today. Her cells built the polio vaccine, launched IVF, mapped the human genome, and rode into space, all while her own family couldn't afford a doctor. This is the story of the woman science never asked, but never forgot to profit from.