Thermo Fisher Sued Over Profiting from "Stolen" HeLa Cell Line

One of the most important scientific discoveries of the 20th century was the first immortal cell line known as HeLa, named after Henrietta Lacks, a cervical cancer patient treated at Johns Hopkins University in the 1950s. The cell line was the first that could be shared and replicated in a lab and has been used to develop countless medical innovations, including the polio vaccine, leukemia and AIDS research.