Trailer: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks with Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne

Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne star in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” based on the best-selling book by Rebecca Skloot. Lacks was a poor black woman who died at age 31 of cancer. Some cells taken without her knowledge in 1951 became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. For reasons no one understands, her cancer cells were remarkably vibrant, reproducing robustly and staying alive basically indefinitely. Some of the most significant advances of medical science in the next fifty years began with her cells. Her family knew nothing about it, and of course they were never paid for the use of the cells or the products developed with them.

There is now a school named after her: Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School