Cherr Lab

Comparative Reproduction

The Cherr Lab has been working on defensins in reproductive biology. Defensins (including ß-defensins) are part of the innate immune system that is understood to be the key defense against disease in invertebrates; homologous peptides exist in invertebrates as “antimicrobial peptides”.

Reproductive Physiology

BML researchers (the Cherr Laboratory) are working to addresses molecules and physiological mechanisms involved in fertilization and early development. This research has focused on fertilization biology using plants, invertebrates, lower vertebrates, and mammals.

Contaminants in Marine/Estuarine Environments

The BML Toxicology Laboratory (G.N. Cherr, Principle Investigator) has focused extensively on Pacific herring in San Francisco Bay in that they are key to the San Francisco Bay ecosystem and represent the last commercial fishery inside of the Bay. The BML Toxicology Group was the first to demonstrate that creosote-treated pier pilings (and the soluble polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; PAHs) present a danger to herring embryos when eggs are spawned directly on the piling surfaces.

Gary Cherr, Ph.D.

  • Professor Emeritus
  • Bodega Marine Laboratory
  • College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
  • Department of Environmental Toxicology
Bodega Marine Laboratory
University of California Davis, Bodega Marine Laboratory, PO Box 247, 2099 Westshore Rd, Bodega Bay CA 94923