
By Melissa Chan
President Barack Obama is a parasite, officially.
Scientists have named a tiny flatworm after the commander-in-chief, 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 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.
[AP]
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