HeLa Cells
That's Henrietta Lacks.
She died in 1951 of cervical cancer. Her cells were extracted at John Hopkins during her treatment.
Those cells, unlike any other we've known even till this day, turned out to be IMMORTAL. I'm not kidding - IMMORTAL. Not 'long lived', IMMORTAL.
They're still alive and have been used in virtually every major medical breakthrough and research since. COVID-19, polio, cancer, HPV, all of it.
There's more of Henrietta alive today by weight than when she was alive. Sent to space. Cloned and distributed to labs worldwide. Her cells have been sold by biotech companies for billions.
Not every Tuesday do you stumble upon the existence of immortal human cells. Henrietta died without knowing about her own cells. It's been 75 years since then. What a shame I too discovered the same only by mistake. Sorry, Henrietta. And thank you for your immeasurable, unaware contribution to the betterment of all of human life on the planet.