“Soon after Harris’s HeLa-chicken study, a pair of researchers at New York University discovered that human-mouse hybrids lost their human chromosomes over time, leaving only the mouse chromosomes. This allowed scientists to begin mapping human genes to specific chromosomes by… — 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
