Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne Uncover Tragic Medical Mystery in the 'Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' Trailer

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Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne Uncover Tragic Medical Mystery in the 'Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' Trailer

Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne are teaming up to expose the untold story of one of the most important figures in the history of modern medicine in the first trailer for the upcoming HBO biopic The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Winfrey plays Deborah, the daughter of the eponymous Henrietta Lacks -- a black woman whose unique cells were harvested without her permission while she was dying in 1951, and were used in a number of world-changing medical breakthroughs, including in vitro fertilization and gene mapping, among many others.

Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne Uncover Tragic Medical Mystery in the 'Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' Trailer

Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne are teaming up to expose the untold story of one of the most important figures in the history of modern medicine in the first trailer for the upcoming HBO biopic The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Winfrey plays Deborah, the daughter of the eponymous Henrietta Lacks -- a black woman whose unique cells were harvested without her permission while she was dying in 1951, and were used in a number of world-changing medical breakthroughs, including in vitro fertilization and gene mapping, among many others.

Byrne plays journalist Rebecca Skloot -- the author of the book the film is based on -- who gets in touch with Deborah to uncover the truth and tragedy behind her mother's unwitting contribution to science.

In the new intense, emotional trailer, it's clear Henrietta's family was unaware of what was being done to and taken from her as she was hospitalized fighting cancer, nor were they informed of what impact Henrietta's "immortal" cells had on the world of medicine.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks premieres April 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.