Weird creatures named after celebrities

Keanu Reeves now has a fungus-killing bacteria named after him

Stars Insider

01/06/23 | StarsInsider

CELEBRITY Organism

It's no news that celebrities are influential. Though most of their influence is restricted to popular culture, it sometimes extends to the scientific community as well. As weird as that may sound, it's actually rather common. Famous people have served as inspiration for names for all kinds of organisms, from animals and plants, to bacteria and fungus. 

Keanu Reeves is known for flaunting his fighting skills on-screen, so much so that he inspired scientists to name a new fungus-killing bacteria after him. "The lipopeptides kill so efficiently that we named them after Keanu Reeves because he, too, is extremely deadly in his roles," Sebastian Götze, a researcher with Germany's Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, shared in a news release, per People. The compound, named "keanumycins," is reportedly an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical pesticides which fights plant fungal diseases and human-pathogenic fungi.

In a recent Reddit AMA, Reeves was asked for his thoughts on the honor and he joked, "They should've called it John Wick ... but that's pretty cool ... and surreal for me. But thanks, scientist people! Good luck, and thank you for helping us."

Click through the gallery and check out some popular celebs who have inspired living organisms' names.

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