A cell biologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Gey propagated the HeLa cell line from Henrietta Lacks' cervical tumor. This cell line, which maintained a continuous growth phase, was the first immortal human cell line to be grown in culture. HeLa cells became the basis for countless significant scientific discoveries. When Gey and his lab assistant Kubicek published this brief report the cause of HeLa's "immortality" was not understood. 

Lacks was a 31-year-old African-American mother of five who died of cancer on October 4, 1951. Because Gey propagated the cell line from Lacks' tumor without her knowledge or consent, as was common in the U.S. at the time, the story may be viewed as an example of medical injustice to a black person. See Rebecca Skloot, The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks (2010). 

Order of authorship in the original publication: Gey, Coffman, Kubicek.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)