In 1951 a poor woman's cells were taken without permission, and they revolutionised medicine

Henrietta Lacks' immortal cells are one of the most important and prolific tools in medicine, used in developing the polio vaccine, cloning and gene mapping.

Henrietta Lacks was a 31-year-old mother of five when she died of cervical cancer on 4 October 1951. While the poor tobacco farmer was being treated at the John Hopkins Hospital, two samples of her cervix were removed - a healthy part and a cancerous part - without her permission or knowledge.

These cells were passed onto Dr George Otto Gey, who discovered they could do something never seen before in humans cells - be kept alive and keep growing indefinitely. Before this, cultured cells had only survived a few days in the lab.

Gey was able to isolate one specific cell and start the first ever immortal cell line, which he named HeLa after Henrietta. 

Since then these cells have been exposed to toxins, viruses and raidation, sent into space and replicated countless times. They've been involved in thousands of medical breakthroughs and helped to develop the polio vaccine, cloning and gene mapping. 

Scientists have grown around 20 tons of HeLa cells, and there are almost 11,000 patents involving HeLa cells. One researcher has estimated that if you laid all the HeLa cells in existence end-to-end, they'd wrap around the planet at least three times.

In 2010, a tube of HeLa cells was selling for around US$260. But unfortunately Henrietta's family were never compensated for her donation and most of them could't afford health insurance.

Journalist Rebecca Skloot wrote a best-selling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks on the subject in 2010. 

After reading it, Dr Roland Pattillo of the Morehouse School of Medicine in the US donated a headstone for Lacks. For decades, her grave had been unmarked. 

The headstone, which is shaped like a book, reads:

Henrietta Lacks, August 01, 1920 – October 04, 1951.

In loving memory of a phenomenal woman, wife and mother who touched the lives of many.

Here lies Henrietta Lacks (HeLa). Her immortal cells will continue to help mankind forever.

Eternal Love and Admiration, From Your Family

Thank you, Henrietta.

Here one amazing thing Which is Coming in Your future that is developed by GOOGLE ATAP

that is PROJECT TANGO read it and see it what will be Your next technology.............

Google’s Project Tango is Moving Closer to “Reality”

Project Tango, Google’s 3D-scanning camera, has graduated from Google’s experimental lab and its launching is on its way to the real world.

The scanner began as a concept for a smartphone which can scan the world around it in 3D. Sounds Amazing right?  It could then make that into a model that could be used for augmented reality or direct people to important things.

The technology could eventually be also used for mapping out the dimensions of a home before buying furniture, or giving easy directions around a new building, Google told this in one of the discussions on Project Tango. It could also help visually impaired people by providing assistance for walking around.

It could eventually be integrated into games, too, allowing children to play hide and seek with animated characters or changing familiar locations into the sites of other animations.

It has now moved out of Google’s experimental Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division, and into a “all new home within Google”.

In a Google+ post announcing the move, ATAP said, “We’re excited about the continued commitment to developing the technology for our users — we wish our fellow pirates fair winds and following seas.”

The move is likely to indicate that the technology could be on its way into consumer devices. Google is said to be working with LG to make a version of the technology that people can buy ready for release some time this year.

The Project Tango Development Kit also allows other engineers to make apps using the technology. That has been used in projects such as Target’s augmented reality app, which can scan shop shelves and cover them in virtual snow.

That runs on a special tablet that was made for developers to try out the kit just a kind of sample! It has also been released in a device the size of a phone.

The technology tracks people through a combination of “advanced computer vision, image processing and specialized sensors”, according to the project’s official page. It is built into the back of a tablet, which can show the results on the front.