Swiss Tropicals Swiss Tropicals
Company Background & Brief History
Greetings, thanks for visiting. I decided to make this website a bit more personal by telling a little background about the company. The origin of the Swiss Tropicals Limited Liability Company has a simple reason. I have a small fishroom with some 60 tanks to properly house all the fish that I am interested in. And breeding - which is the ultimate goal - produces lots of offspring. Well, selling a few fish is not an issue but selling them by the hundreds would sooner or later bring the IRS or the state treasurer to my door step. To avoid any legal issues, I decided to set up a company. In addition, I have a US Fish and Wildlife Service import license to bring fish along from my trips.
I have been an active fish keeper since 1982. Back in Switzerland where I was born, I got my first fish tank when I was 14 years old. My interest in biology and nature pushed me to earn a Master's in Behavioral Ecology and Molecular Biology (1995) and then a Ph.D. in Human Molecular Genetics (1998). During my undergraduate years I worked in the Spiezer Zoo, a local fish store with quality fish and great customer service.
In the spring of 1998 I moved to Columbus, Ohio for a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer research at The Ohio State University. After four years I became a Research Scientist and since the fall of 2005, I am a Research Assistant Professor in Human Cancer Genetics in the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics at OSU.
Our work in Cancer Genetics focuses on identifying genes and pathways for acute myeloid leukemia (we identified and described a novel gene, BAALC, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2001, Vol 98, issue 24), juvenile vitamin B12 malabsorption (we identified a second gene, AMN, causing Imerslund Gräsbeck Syndrome, Nature Genetics, 2003 Vol 33, issue 3 & and mutations in GIF causing Intrinsic Factor Deficiency, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2005, Vol 102, issue 11), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (novel pathway HOXB7->DAPK1 published in CELL 2007, Vol 129, issue 5). Our work in genetic predisposition to colorectal cancer was published in Science. Most recently, I had the pleasure to write a review with Prof. Ralph Gräsbeck, who described Imerslund Gräsbeck Syndrome in 1960. We also just published one of the oldest human disease mutation to date. To see what else I have published, you can view Google Scholar.
In 1992, I became a member of the German Barb, Tetra, Loach, and Catfish association AK BSSW. From 1994-2006, I was the editor for the quarterly publication BSSW Report. I regularly travel to Germany for fish related meetings and to visit friends that I have made throughout the fabulous International Society of Barbs, Tetras, Loaches, and Catfishes.
Thank you for visiting!
Stephan M. Tanner, Owner, Swiss Tropicals, LLC
last updated January 20, 2012 23:33 ET
Contact: email me.
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