Is it possible for cells that make up your body to continue to live and proliferate long after you have died? Indeed it is!
One striking example is that of Hela cells, so many named because they were taken from the cervix of a 31 year old African-American lady , Henrietta lacks in 1951 without her permission when she died of cervical cancer. These cells are still alive and kicking today. Some 50 millions metric tons (!) of the living cells have been produced in laboratories all over the world, and over 60,000 studies using them published on a wide range of such topics as ageing, cancer, cellular effects of working in sewers, mosquito mating.
What is so special about these cells is that they multiply abnormally rapidly as compare to other cancer cells, which make them very useful in research. The children of Henrietta Lacks first received the shocking news that their mother was 'alive' in form of these cells in 1973. By then the 'Hela' cells had been taken to outer space and spread worldwide, even contaminating many experiments as far as Russia, because of their extraordinary proliferation abilities.
Henrietta lacks live on in form of her living body cells. Her 'Hela' cells continue to benefit virology, biotechnology and medical research.
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