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This year marks the centenary of the birth of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman who died at the age of 31, on October 4, 1951, from cervical adenocarcinoma. The cancer cells taken from Henrietta's body revealed an extraordinary ability to survive and reproduce, giving rise to the first human cell line that can be defined as immortal. These cells spread to laboratories around the world, allowing for an extraordinary series of discoveries in various medical fields. These cells are still called HeLa cells, after the patient, although her identity was revealed only decades after their use began. Professor Fabio Zampieri, of the Department of Thoracic and Vascular Cardiac Sciences at the University of Padua and a historian of medicine, talks about the whole story and the considerations related to it. Report by Elisa Speronello