Vocabulary in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

In biology, describes cells that can divide and reproduce indefinitely in a lab without dying, unlike normal human cells that stop dividing after a set number of generations.

A medical procedure in which a small sample of tissue is removed from a living person so it can be examined under a microscope for signs of disease.

Relating to the cervix, the lower narrow part of the uterus; in this book it refers specifically to the cancer that was found in Henrietta's body.

A type of cancer that begins in the cells lining the surfaces of organs or skin; here it refers to the malignant tumor found in Henrietta's cervix.

A radioactive element once used in medicine to treat cancer by placing it directly against tumors to destroy them with radiation.

To grow living cells or microorganisms in a controlled laboratory environment, providing nutrients and conditions that keep them alive and multiplying outside the body.

In cell biology, the unwanted invasion of one cell line into another in the lab, causing researchers to unknowingly work with the wrong cells and producing false scientific results.

A population of cells descended from a single original sample that can be kept alive and grown in a laboratory indefinitely, used repeatedly for scientific experiments.

The name given to the first immortal human cell line, derived from the first two letters of the donor's first and last name, used worldwide in medical research.

Latin for 'in glass'; refers to biological processes or experiments carried out in a laboratory dish or test tube rather than inside a living organism.

The legal and ethical requirement that a patient be fully told about and agree to a medical procedure or the use of their tissue before it takes place.

A mass of similar cells that form a specific part of a body; in this book it refers to the physical material taken from Henrietta that became the basis of scientific research.

A medical examination of a dead body, including internal inspection of organs, performed to determine the cause of death or gather scientific information.

A discredited movement that promoted controlling human reproduction to increase supposedly desirable traits and eliminate undesirable ones, often used to justify forced sterilization of marginalized groups.

Placed into a long-term residential facility such as a psychiatric hospital or state home, often without the person's full consent, as happened to Elsie Lacks.

The system of laws and social customs in the American South that enforced racial segregation, keeping Black and white people separated in hospitals, schools, and public life.

Forcibly separated by race under law or custom, so that Black patients, for example, were treated in separate and typically inferior wards from white patients.

A large room or section of a hospital containing multiple patients' beds, often designated for a particular type of patient such as those of a specific race or illness.

To obtain an exclusive legal right over an invention or, in biotech contexts, over a biological material or process, preventing others from using it without permission.

Turned into a product that is bought and sold for profit; in this book it describes how human cells and biological materials became commercial goods traded by corporations.

To cause cells to reproduce and multiply in a laboratory setting, growing larger quantities of a cell line for distribution or experimental use.

A highly contagious viral disease that can cause paralysis; HeLa cells were crucial to developing the vaccine that eventually eliminated it as a major public health threat.

Thread-like structures inside a cell's nucleus that carry genetic information; HeLa cells have an abnormally large and chaotic number of them due to their cancerous origin.

A written document a patient signs to give permission for a medical procedure or for their tissue to be used; the absence of such forms for Henrietta is central to the book's ethical argument.

Compensation paid to people who have been wronged or exploited; the Lacks family sought some form of payment or acknowledgment for the commercial use of Henrietta's cells without their knowledge.