Henrietta Lacks kicked the bucket, matured 31, in 1951 of cervical malignant growth and tests of her cells were gathered by specialists without her or her family's information.
They were the main living human cells to duplicate external the human body.
They have been utilized in research that prompted the polio antibody, quality planning and IVF treatment.
These and different advances have brought about Henrietta Lacks being named the "mother" of current medication.
Henrietta Lacks: How her 'eternal' cells progressed current science
"What befell Henrietta wasn't right," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an exceptional service in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
"Henrietta Lacks was taken advantage of. She is one of numerous ladies of shading whose bodies have been abused by science.
"She set her confidence in the wellbeing framework so she could get treatment. In any case, the framework took something from her without her insight or assent," Dr Tedros said.
The HeLa cells - a name got from the initial two letters of Henrietta Lacks' first and last names - were likewise utilized in the immunization against cervical malignant growth, the very sickness which killed Lacks.
Getting the honor, Lacks' 87-year-old child Lawrence depicted his mom as an amazing lady, who kept on aiding the world long after her passing.
Comes up short on, a tobacco rancher from Virginia, was covered in a plain grave after her demise in a racially isolated medical clinic in Baltimore, Maryland.