Featured Image Credit: AFF / Sipa US / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Keanu Reeves, Science, Celebrity, Reddit
Daisy Phillipson
Topics: Keanu Reeves, Science, Celebrity, Reddit
Keanu Reeves has responded to the news that scientists found a bacteria so good at killing, they named it after him. And he's even said what he thinks they should have called it instead.
Behind the camera, the 58-year-old actor's earned a reputation as Hollywood's 'nicest guy' by donating huge sums of money to charity and carrying out plenty of random acts of kindness.
But when it comes to his movies it's a different story, having portrayed a ruthless killer in the John Wick films and the badass cybercriminal and computer programmer in The Matrix.
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Last month, scientists at the Bio Pilot Plant in Germany announced their decision to use the actor's name to describe a new compound they had created that can effortlessly kill disease-causing fungi.
They went with the title 'Keanumycins', a type of lipopeptide, which is a molecule consisting of a lipid connected to a peptide.
And if that doesn't make much sense to you, just know that certain lipopeptides are used as antibiotics and they can have strong anti-fungal properties.
A study on the recent disease killer creation was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Explaining the thought process behind the name 'Keanumycins', lead author Sebastian Götze explained: "The lipopeptides kill so efficiently that we named them after Keanu Reeves because he, too, is extremely deadly in his roles."
Now, if you're wondering what Reeves' thoughts are on the whole thing, thankfully we now know as the Hollywood star took to a Reddit Ask Me Anything thread yesterday (March 4) to answer fans' burning questions.
Referencing the science news, one asked: "Researches from Germany found a compound naturally produced by some type of bacteria that is so effective at killing fungi, they named it after you: keanumycins.
"What are your thoughts about that?"
They were sure to add 'have a good day' at the end, to which Reeves said 'thank you'. And there we were thinking we couldn't love him anymore.
Elaborating on this thoughts on the name, he said: "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."
To be fair, the John Wick suggestion's not a bad idea – although we're happy they went with his real name. He deserves all the recognition he gets.
If you want to know more about the Keanu-inspired compound, it's capable of fighting against fungi that causes disease in plants like Botrytis cinera, as well as varieties that can be dangerous to humans, like Candida albicans.
At low concentrations, Keanumycins would not be toxic to the human cell, according to tests conducted so far.
That would make it the perfect candidate for the development of new antimyotics (medicines that stop fungal infections) – a product that the pharmaceutical world is in desperate need of.
Essentially, The Last Of Us might have been a very different story if Keanumycins had been involved.