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.
022: Allan Hall Distills Down the Art of Fermentation
021: Ticks and Sandflies Suck!
020: The Promise of Stem Cells: Travis Block Communicates Science
019: Inside the Hot Zone: A Discussion of Ebola Virus and BSL4 containment with Anthony Griffiths and Ricardo Carrion
018: Talking Bioscience with Hizzoner: A Discussion with Mayor Ron Nirenberg
017: David Blehert sends out the Bat Signal: White Nose Fungus is Among Us!
016: Cdiff Infections and Fecal Transplants with Jimmy Ballard
015: Beware of bloodsuckers! What’s the buzz about mosquitoes?
014: Parasites, Vampire Bats, and Science, Oh My! A Discussion with Dan Riskin
013: Science Not Silence: A Discussion with Jonathan Berman, March for Science Organizer
012: There’s a Fungus Among Us! – Damian Krysan, M.D., Ph.D.
011: Sick as a…plant? Yep, plants get viruses too – David Bisaro, Ph.D
010: Extra! Extra! Hear All About It! Science Reporting in the Age of Fake News – Alex Berezow, Ph.D
009: Whoop Whoop! The Pertussis Vaccine – Rajendar Deora, Ph.D
008: Murderous Microbes: The Type Six Secretion System – Stefan Pukatzki, Ph.D.
007: Gnarly! The Surfer Biome Project – Mr. Cliff Kapono
006: Blood-sucking Disease: Malaria and the Microbiome – Nathan Schmidt, Ph.D
005: Selenium for the Millenium: A Whooping Trace Element – Girish Kirimanjeswara, Ph.D
004: California Cows in Crisis: Epizootic Bovine Abortion – Jeffrey Stott, Ph.D
003: The Superbug Crisis: Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria – Mike Gilmore, Ph.D
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