To be so cool onscreen as an actor that scientists name a group of extremely effective, lab engineered, fungi killing molecules after you is what true fame looks like and nothing else can compare!
A group of scientists from the Bio Pilot Plant at Germany’s Leibniz-HKI created and called the new pesticide “Keanumycins,” after none other than Keanu Reeves!
The report on the deadly biochemical discovery has been published in the American Chemical Society Journal.
The lead author of the study, Sebastian Götze, explains that the molecules “kill so efficiently that we just named them after Keanu Reeves, because he, too, is especially deadly in his roles.”
Keanumycins, made from Pseudomonas bacteria, fight Botrytis cinerea, a fungus that damages crops by causing a gray mold rot.
Over 200 fruit and vegetable species are infected with Botrytis cinerea, one of several scary fungi that are becoming more and more resistant to medications and conventional chemical pesticides.
In another statement, Götze mentioned that “Many human-pathogenic fungi are now resistant to antimycotics (anti-fungal) – partly because they are used in large quantities in agricultural fields.”
On the other hand, experts claim that this particle has showed promise in eliminating a number of human-pathogenic fungi, including the highly alarming Candida albicans.
It is also thought to be far more ecologically friendly because it is bacterial rather than chemical, and it hasn’t yet demonstrated any threat of harming plant or human cells.
It is important to note that Keanu Reeves is not the first famous person to have a substance, plant, or animal named after them.
For instance, the Conobregma bradpitti parasitic wasp was named after – you guessed it – Brad Pitt, while Lady Gaga’s name is given to a whole genus of genderfluid ferns for obvious reasons.
That being said, one might argue that Pedro Pascal from HBO’s The Last of Us would have been a better choice, Keanu was definitely the next best pick!
And besides, it’s likely that there will be more anti-fungal substances in need of a name in the future, especially given the very serious threat that fungus may pose to us humans in the not so distant future.
