HeLa cells Discovery

After Lacks was diagnosed with cancer of the cervix she began radiation treatments. During these treatments the doctors removed 2 areas from her cervix, one healthy one not. These samples were given to Dr. George Otto Gey. The cells he held eventually became the first HeLa immortal cells.
When Gey discovered that Lacks cells did not die but kept growing he named them HeLa in honor of Mrs. Lacks who didn't even know samples of her cells had been taken.