“The American Type Culture Collection—a nonprofit whose funds go mainly toward maintaining and providing pure cultures for science—has been selling HeLa since the sixties. When this book went to press, their price per vial was $256. The ATCC won’t reveal… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
“Everyone in the audience knew what that meant. On top of saying they’d possibly wasted more than a decade and millions of research dollars, Gartler was also suggesting that spontaneous transformation—one of the most celebrated prospects for finding a cure… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
Only cells that had been transformed by a virus or a genetic mutation had the potential to become immortal. — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
Good science is all about following the data as it shows up and letting yourself be proven wrong, and letting everything change while you're… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
“The American Type Culture Collection—a nonprofit whose funds go mainly toward maintaining and providing pure cultures for science—has been selling HeLa since the sixties.… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
“Today an estimated 13 percent of birds are threatened, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. So are 25 percent of mammals… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
“an idea hit him, he sat wherever he was—at his desk, kitchen table, a bar, or behind the wheel of his car—gnawing on his… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
“When he asked if she was okay, her eyes welled with tears and she said, “Like I’m always telling my brothers, if you gonna… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
“Some things you got to release. Gary said. The more you hold them in, the worse you get. When you release them, they got… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
The sort of thinking at the time was, 'Well, we're giving you access to medical care which you wouldn't otherwise be able to get,… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
“Nelson-Rees had since been hired by the National Cancer Institute to help stop the contamination problem. He would become known as a vigilante who… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
Often doctors didn't even tell you what was wrong with you. They just treated you, and sent you home. — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
“We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its… — Rebecca Skloot Copy Share Image
