Coxiella burnettii causes Q Fever, a zoonotic disease that is rarely acquired by humans. But Q Fever has a history of being developed as a bioweapon because of its ability to be spread by aerosols and cause debilitating but not lethal disease.
Dr. Stacey Gilk is an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center who studies Coxiella. Dr. Gilk talks about what makes Q Fever a potential biothreat agent, how figuring out how to grow Coxiella outside of cells revolutionized the study of this bacterium that was thought to only grow intracellularly, how a large outbreak in the Netherlands led to the deaths of thousands of dairy goats, how cholesterol affects the ability of Coxiella to grow, how falling in love with Toxoplasma led her to pursue infectious disease research, and what a wonderful place Nebraska is to do science.
This episode was supported by Gordo Sheepsay’s My Dope Microscope, the kitchen appliance that may literally save your life.
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061: TB or not TB? That is the Question… for Bill Jacobs
060: Geezer Germs: Geriatric Bacteria with Steve Finkel
059: All Hail Females: Women in Science with Joan Bennett
058: Biotechnology Ideology: Genomics Technologies with Joe DeRisi
057: Undone by Fungi Again: The Mycobiome with Mahmoud Ghannoum
056: Lilliputian Evolution: Bacterial Evolution with Stanley Maloy
055: The Age of Phage: Phage Therapy with Graham Hatfull
054: Urine Trouble: Urinary Tract Infections with Harry Mobley
053: Vibri-Oh-No! - “Flesh Eating” Vibrios with Karla Satchell
052: Goodbye Guinea Worm: Guinea Worm Eradication with Adam Weiss
051: Microbes in Hot Water: Climate Change with Sanghoon Kang
050: Into the Matrix: Fungal Biofilms with David Andes
049: Trivia About Chlamydia: Sexually Transmitted Disease with Mary Weber
048: Zebrafish in the Time of Cholera: Vibrio cholerae with Brian Hammer
047: Urinary Commentary: UTIs and Proteus mirabilis with Karine Gibbs
046: The Scoop on Whoop: Bordetella with Jeff Miller
045: Tiptoe Through the Crypto: Cryptococcus with Paul de Figueiredo
044: Giant Viruses, Rickettsia, and Whipple, Oh My! A Discussion with Didier Raoult
043: Native Alaskan Perspectives in Microbiology with Kat Milligan-Myhre
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