Ewen Callaway and Nature magazine write:

"The research world's most famous human cell has had its genome decoded, and it's a mess. German researchers this week report the genome sequence of the HeLa cell line, which originates from a deadly cervical tumor taken from a patient named Henrietta Lacks.

"Established after Lacks died in 1951, HeLa cells were the first human cells to grow well in the laboratory. The cells have contributed to more than 60,000 research papers, the development of a polio vaccine in the 1950s and, most recently, an international effort to characterize the genome, known as ENCODE."

SOURCE

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=famous-hela-human-cell-line-gets-its-dna-sequenced