RTFA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helacyton_gartleri

A HeLa cell also Hela or hela cell is an immortal cell line used in medical research. The cell line was derived from cervical cancer cells taken from Henrietta Lacks, who died from her cancer in 1951.

The cells were propagated by George Otto Gey without Lacks knowledge or permission and later commercialized, although never patented in their original form. There was then, as now, no requirement to inform a patient… This issue and Ms. Lacks situation was brought up in the Supreme Court of California case of John Moore v. the Regents of the University of California. The court ruled that a persons discarded tissue and cells are not their property and can be commercialized.

HeLa cells are termed “immortal” in that they can divide an unlimited number of times in a laboratory cell culture plate as long as basic cell survival conditions are met…

Due to their ability to replicate indefinitely, and their non-human number of chromosomes, Leigh Van Valen described HeLa as an example of the contemporary creation of a new species, Helacyton gartleri, named after Stanley M. Gartler, who Van Valen credits with discovering “the remarkable success of this species”. His argument for speciation depends on three points:

* The chromosomal incompatibility of HeLa cells with humans.
* The ecological niche of HeLa cells.
* Their ability to persist and expand well beyond the desires of human cultivators.

Very interesting read.