Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks was a young woman who went to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1951 because of bleeding and discovered that she had a tumor. Cells from her tumor were removed without her consent before she passed away and used for years in cell research because of their remarkable ability to reproduce and survive. Her cells have been involved in over 17,000 patents, in 2013 her entire genome was published on the internet, and meanwhile, her family has received no compensation.

There are so many great resources on her, including the book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot, a piece on Radiolab, and some current news articles.