Eensy Weensy Obelisks

Lincoln's Tomb
(Photo by Joseph Isaac Carroll)

What do Ludwig van Beethoven and Abraham Lincoln have in common?  That’s easy – they both have obelisk tombstones.

Chances are that they even had obelisks while still alive: tiny critters that inhabited their digestive tracts.  As Beethoven was hammering his Fifth and Lincoln was addressing Gettysburg, these rod-shaped viroids were busily transmitting bio-bits.

According to University of Bath Professor Ed Feil, a viroid is “one step down from a virus… just a scrap of genetic RNA that can’t make proteins,” but can wreak havoc in flowering plants. 

Can they also wreak havoc in humans?  That remains to be seen.  Yet these bodily invaders seem to have left Beethoven and Lincoln with most of their extraordinary faculties intact.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/lifestyle/obelisk-lifeform-hiding-inside-humans-130000899.html