Hello steemit!

Hi everyone,

I just recently found some really useful and interesting articles posted on steemit and so I thought I would check it out for myself. I can't believe I hadn't found steemit before now, it's great!

I thought I'd follow the convention and post an introduction about myself.

I am a scientist working in stem cell research. My research aims to use a person's own stem cells to repair damaged or diseased tissues and organs. If lizards and salamanders can regenerate whole tails or limbs (if they've been lost in a fight or by predation), then why have we lost this regenerative capacity?

Through my research I aim to increase to understand how our own cells could be used to repair damaged hearts, bone, skin, teeth, or any other tissue. To achieve this, I make movies of cells as they grow under different conditions. By watching these movies, and studying the way cells behave, I am able to identify optimal conditions that support their growth.

I originally trained as an engineer, and still love to develop new software and computational tools for my research (as well as for fun). Currently, I am working on developing software that will automatically track cells as they grow. I'm really excited about this, because software to performance this task does not currently exist.

While I dedicate most of my time to my research 'work' (I don't really consider it work because I enjoy what I do) I would say that my second interest is cryptoeconomics.

I first learned heard about bitcoin from a friend-of-a-friend in 2011. He was using bitcoins to purchase certain items online, in an online marketplace that later brought a lot of attention to bitcoin. When he first told me about bitcoins, he explained it to me as a digital token that could be used to buy things online anonymously. I thought it sounded dodgy and didn't think about it again until the beginning of 2012 - when my brother sent me a link to the Max Keiser report (on RT News) on bitcoins. He then told me that he was going to buy a bitcoin, because Max Keiser was screaming that people were going to go crazy for bitcoins and that they would increase in value substantially.

So we bought two bitcoins each, for about $100USD/bitcoin. On Mt Gox. You know how that story ends. We're still waiting to go through the claims process to get some form of compensation. Burnt. Hard. (You'd think I would have learnt my lesson, but please see my other post about Igot.com - where I lost a further 2BTC in 2015). Unfortunately, as we were both poor university students at the time that loss accounted for >50% of our savings. Scorched. Looking at the price now, and knowing we can't get them back hurts even more.

However, since the time of my original bitcoin purchase I have had a growing interest in learning more about cryptoeconomics. This isn't just about bitcoin, or money, or any currency in particular. It is about a revolution in the way we transact with each other, doing away with 3rd parties that have oversight and control, while preserving security of the network and protection for the individuals involved.

This new era of decentralisation brought about by the invention of bitcoin, has created possibilities for new forms of community engagement, access to finance, democratisation, removal of regulations, transcendence of nation/state borders, are truly exciting, unpredictable, and most importantly disruptive. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have set the stage for a revolution in our global society, as this invention returns freedom and control to the individual, which is desperately needed in these times when governments are increasingly encroaching on personal freedom and choice.

-bitjam