"A woman’s cancer cells were preserved and found to be practically immortal. This led to a ton of discoveries and breakthroughs in the medical field. Her family still cannot afford their own medical bills and this was all done without their knowledge or consent.

Her name was Henrietta Lacks. She passed away in 1951 from cancer. She was black and very poor and didn’t get great care in the hospital. A doctor had been looking for cells that lasted longer and harvested her cells, separating the cancerous and healthy cells. The healthy cells died while the cancer cells seemingly never stopped replicating.

Her cells are named HeLa cells and have replicated so many times apparently they’d weigh a total more than 50 million metric tons. A pseudonym for her has been Helen Lane. She didn’t know her cells were taken and neither did her family until way later. The family has been through a lot.

If you want to know more, I highly suggest reading the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I couldn’t put the book down. There apparently is also a movie about her life."