--- title: President Barack Obama Is Officially a Parasite: Scientists description: President Barack Obama is a parasite, officially. Scientists have named a tiny flatworm after the commander-in-chief as an honor canonical: https://time.com/4484828/barack-obama-parasite/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-08T23:35:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:08:51.210Z article:section: Science og:title: President Barack Obama Is Officially a Parasite, Scientists Say og:description: A parasite that lives in turtles' blood has been named after the President og:url: https://time.com/4484828/barack-obama-parasite/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ff513ba787e0443/6988a554a988ca17096b95af/barack-obama-parasite.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Obama Returns To The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Barack Obama Is Officially a Parasite, Scientists Say twitter:description: A parasite that lives in turtles' blood has been named after the President twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ff513ba787e0443/6988a554a988ca17096b95af/barack-obama-parasite.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Barack Obama Is a Parasite, According to Scientists > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Sep 8, 2016 11:35 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama waves to reporters after returning to the White House on Sept. 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Barack Obama waves to reporters after returning to the White House on Sept. 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Sep 8, 2016 11:35 PM UTC President Barack Obama is a [parasite](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FOBAMA%5FTHE%5FPARASITE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT), officially. Scientists have named a tiny flatworm after the [commander-in-chief](http://time.com/4483650/obama-duterte-son-of-a-whore-asean/?xid=homepage), insisting it’s an honor. Thomas Platt, a retired biology professor at Saint Mary’s College in Indiana, told the Associated Press he discovered the 2-inch parasite and named it [Baracktrema obamai ](http://www.journalofparasitology.org/doi/full/10.1645/15-893)because it reminds him of the President—in a good way. “It’s long. It’s thin. And it’s cool as hell,” he said Thursday. Platt added that Baracktrema obamai, which lives in turtles’ blood, are “phenomenally incredibly resilient organisms.” The study about the new parasite was recently published in the [_Journal of Parasitology_](http://www.journalofparasitology.org/doi/full/10.1645/15-893)_._ \[[_AP_](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FOBAMA%5FTHE%5FPARASITE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4484828/barack-obama-parasite/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4484828/barack-obama-parasite/"},"headline":"President Barack Obama Is a Parasite, According to Scientists","datePublished":"2016-09-08T23:35:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:08:51.210Z","description":"A parasite that lives in turtles' blood has been named after the President","url":"https://time.com/4484828/barack-obama-parasite/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ff513ba787e0443/6988a554a988ca17096b95af/barack-obama-parasite.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ff513ba787e0443/6988a554a988ca17096b95af/barack-obama-parasite.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Returns To The White House","caption":"President Obama Returns To The White House","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4484828/barack-obama-parasite/","name":"President Barack Obama Is a Parasite, According to Scientists"}}]}] ```