The most important symbol in this fascinating work is that of HeLa itself: the cells of Henrietta Lacks that caused her own death through the cancer but also which have benefited untold millions through the scientific discoveries that have been founded through them. As the title of this work indicates, the symbol of HeLa and the immortality it represents means that in many ways, Henrietta Lacks, in one form or another, is still very much alive, albeit in a radically different form. Note how Skloot comments on this symbol in her opening chapter, where she introduces Henrietta Lacks and why she is so important:

I've tried to imagine how she'd feel knowing that her cells went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to human cells in zero gravity, or that they helped with some of the most important advances in medicine: the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilisation. I'm pretty sure that she--like most of us--would be shocked to heart that there are millions more of her cells growing in laboratories now than there ever were in her body.

The list of medical advances that have been helped by HeLa is incredibly impressive. The way in which the immortality of her cells means that there are now far more cells belonging to her body alive now than there ever were during her lifetime is an indication of the strength and power of this symbol, and just how important the life of this poor black female who had such a hard life was to us all.