Rebecca Skloot's retelling of the story of Henrietta Lacks sits atop Amazon's list of the best books of 2010. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," explores the ethical issues surrounding medical research -- and whether patients should share in the resulting monetary rewards. There also is a strong subtext of racial bias in the events, which took place a half-century ago at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
As we noted earlier on Read Street, while the young black woman from Baltimore County was being treated for cancer at Johns Hopkins, a researcher was able to keep some of her cells alive outside her body -- a remarkable breakthrough for medical research. Those "HeLa cells" were spread around the world, helping to develop the polio vaccine and forge advances in such areas as chemotherapy, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization. Yet Lacks' role was not acknowledged for years, and her family reaped no financial gain, leaving them understandably bitter.
I understand why these lists come out so early -- so booksellers can land a spot on gift lists as the holiday shopping season nears. But pity the poor author whose book is released in December -- or next week -- and misses out. Among them: former president George W. Bush, whose memoir "Decision Points" will be released Tuesday.