Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent Essay Example

Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent Paper The Secret Agent was written by Joseph Conrad and published in 1908. It’s a classic novel based on actual events: the attempt to blow up the Greenwich Observatory in 1984. This fictionalized tale revolves around Mr. Verloc, a spy for his home country of France while living and working in London, Mr. Verloc’s wife, Winnie, a devoted wife and lives her life caring for her young brother, and Stevie, Winnie’s simple-minded brother who manages to get involved with Mr. Verloc’s dangerous politics. The family relationships in this novel, particularly Winnies devotion to her brother Stevie, are quite strong and relevant to the events of the story. The novel seems to be mostly about Winnie, though she appears to only be a minor character throughout the majority of the story. Winnie is the injured party when the scheme to blow up the Greenwich Observatory goes disastrously wrong, though the plan was engineered to save Mr. Verloc from the possibility of death. In a way, Mr. Verloc and Winnie are almost paralleled to one another in the story, both living behind secrets. While reading the novel, Winnie and Mr. Verloc’s relationship seemed odd and unfamiliar. Chapter VIII in The Secret Agent reveals a passage that makes the reader consider Winnie and Mr. We will write a custom essay sample on Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Deceitful Relationships in the Secret Agent specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Verloc to be strangers to one another: [t]his head arranged for the night, those ample shoulders, had an aspect of familiar sacredness—the sacredness of domestic peace. She moved not, massive and shapeless like a recumbent statue in the rough; he remembered her wide-open eyes looking into the empty room. She was mysterious, with the mysteriousness of living beings. (Conrad 148) The imagery in the passage seems cold, and lacking the passion that a man would use to describe his wife laying in bed next to him. By calling Winnie sacred, Conrad does add a little warmth, because unlike Winnie, Mr. Verloc does love her, but she is also described as mysterious. Winnie and Mr. Verloc have been married for seven years and the fact that she can still be described as mysterious is unusual. Lying in bed together at night is a very intimate moment between two people, and the passage portrays Winnie as being a statue, not moving at all. When in a comfortable marriage, the husband and wife should be able to move freely and talk because it is their time to be alone with one another, but instead Winnie is compared to a statue that is lying down, the imagery in the passage compares Winnie to a figure made of stone. There are other images in the novel where Winnie is completely still, and maybe not directly being called a statue, she acts as one, â€Å"[s]he remained mysteriously still† (Conrad 215) or: a white-hot iron drawn across her eyes; at the same time her heart, hardened and chilled into a lump of ice, kept her body in an inward shudder, set her features into a frozen, contemplative immobility addressed to a whitewashed wall with no writing on it. (Conrad 199) The passage shows that Mr. Verloc and Winnie have not completely opened themselves up to one another, hiding behind secrets. Mr. Verloc hides from Winnie that he is a secret agent working for the French Embassy, and Winnie puts on a front for her husband as a devoted wife so she and her brother, Stevie, can live with financial security. The passage shows the reader just how little Winnie is emotionally invested in her marriage. Winnie appears to an outsider, such as Comrade Ossipon, to be a devoted wife to Mr. Verloc, but in reality she has devoted her entire life to her brother, first protecting the poor boy from his own abusive father, then caring for him when their mother became disabled, and finally marrying Mr. Verloc with the intention that Stevie would always be cared for and not have to work. Winnie has given up freedom and love for her brother and thrown all her trust on to this man, who has a secret life that he has refused to disclose to her. Winnie and Mr. Verloc each hide behind a big secret, which stands in the way of their marriage. They are parallel to one another through their deceit. Both characters are morally corrupt, Mr. Verloc is in many ways self-deceived, since he does not admit to himself how grimy his methods of making a living are, and it seems that he even wanted to be rid of the mentally deficient Stevie with his lack of sympathy for Winnie, and Winnie allows herself to be sexually exploited by marrying Mr. Verloc, whom she does not love, but does it for the sake of Stevie and her mother, and by so carelessly throwing herself at the feet of Comrade Ossipon near the end of the novel. The excerpt shows the reader that Mr. Verloc and Winnie are almost strangers in this story by calling her mysterious, but then the narrator takes it a step further by saying she is mysterious, â€Å"with the mysteriousness of living beings† (Conrad 148). The description of Winnie from Mr. Verloc’s point of view seems very general and vague, not a loving, meaningful, or even familiar depiction of Winnie. But it is not the only time that Winnie is thought of as being mysterious, â€Å"Mrs. Verloc sat still under her black veil, in her own house, like a masked and mysterious visitor of impenetrable intentions† (Conrad 211). Even in her own house, Winnie is somewhat of a mysterious visitor, and Mr. Verloc is not able to relate to his wife, especially after she finds out the truth of Stevie’s death. It is obvious Mr. Verloc does not know Winnie’s true self by the sheer fact that he thinks he’s doing Winnie a favor by sparing his own life and letting Stevie be in control of the bomb, and this shows through Mr. Verloc’s persistent defense of his actions to his wife Winnie, â€Å"‘[d]o be reasonable, Winnie. What would it have been if you had lost me? ’† (Conrad 193). When Mr. Verloc asks Winnie that question, he must be assuming that Winnie would be more sorrowful had he died instead of Stevie. Mr. Verloc is clearly unaware of Winnie’s intentions for their marriage and just how much she truly cared about Stevie. Mr. Verloc and Winnie’s deceit ultimately brought them to their deaths at the end of the novel. Both suffering from moral corruption and a loveless marriage, Mr. Verloc and Winnie were paralleled through their secrets from one another. Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Agent. New York: Signet Classics, 2007.

The Moors essays

The Moors essays The Moors who originated form North Africa were a military culture who started their invasions and attempted dominance in 711 ad. The purpose of the invasion was to bring their religion, politics, and their social standards to other parts of the world. But with this brought pain and suffering to where ever they went especially Spain. They were a group that were persecuted by the Christians and eventually expelled by the monarchy of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella who were Catholic. Despite the persecution that the Moors went though they left an ever-lasting impression on the development of the Spanish people as well as the culture. Many of the impacts that the Moors made during their invasion can still be seen today. The history of the Moors is an interesting one. Muslim Arab armies swept North Africa in the 7th century in a militant expedition to convert tribes to Islam. In the Northwestern corner of the continent, they encountered several indigenous peoples, collectively called Berbers. In 711 ad, A Berber-Muslim army under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the strait of Gibraltar from North Africa into the Iberian Peninsula for a military invasion. They were confronted with Visigothic inhabitants, peoples of Germanic origin who had entered the peninsula via Gaul about 300 years earlier. The Visigoths had a hierarchical system of nobles and small kingdoms, similar to that of feudalism in medieval Europe. The invading Muslim armies destroyed this system and all the kingdoms in the region, and began instituting their own kingdoms. Goderick, the last of the Visigothic Kings of Spain was defeated at the battle of Rio Barbate in about 715. By 719, the forces were supreme from the Atlan tic Coast to the Pyrenees. They attempted to invade France in 732, but were turned back by the forces of Charles Martel, a Frankish ruler who was the grandfather of Charlemagne (Fletcher 1-13). For the first year of rule, the M...

HS630 week 9 conference Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HS630 week 9 conference - Essay Example In this regard, at the onset, risk was made apparently clear. Do people know what to do and when to do it? Through the eight stages, people are made aware on what to do and when to do it through information needs assessment, communication action assessment and communication action implementation stages (Lindell, Prater, & Perry, 2007, p. 83). For instance, in the stage involving information needs assessment, an identified need is confirmed. Through communication action assessment, people get to know what to do since â€Å"people often rely on the news media to confirm information they received about the hazard from other sources† (Lindell, Prater, & Perry, 2007, p. 84). And through communication action implementation stage, people have confirmed the threat or risk and take the needed protective action, as advised. Do people know and how to get more information? Yes, people get to know the manner of getting more information through â€Å"contacting many people many people over a short period of time (Drabek and Stephenson, 1971; cited in Lindell, Prater, & Perry, 2007, p. 85). Through the eight stages of warning and action, information is gathered and communicated effectively to enable them to gather as much information as reliably possible and to take appropriate action, as relayed. Essay Question 2: For a business or a local jurisdiction, outline an outreach communications plan for a crisis. Identify the type of crisis first, and 5 different audiences you need to communicate with. For each audience segment, summarize the key messages you need to convey, what media or method you would use to disseminate those messages, the timing (before a crisis, immediately after, during response, during recovery), and who might be the spokesperson (e.g., e-mail or tweet from a CEO; briefing by an expert). The spokesperson is optional. Follow the template below. potential flash floods as information was received from news media and local government agencies; include

Organization implications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organization implications - Essay Example The merit pay systems emphasizes on the fact that teachers are to be paid for their achievement in the classroom as opposed to their seniority or the number of ed-school credits that they have collected. This paper will discuss the merit pay system and teacher performance in public schools The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 put the merit system principles into law, specifically section 2301 of title 5 of the U.S. Code. It was set as a national policy intended â€Å"to provide the people of the United States with a competent, honest, and productive workforce...and to improve the quality of public service, Federal personnel management should be implemented consistent with merit system principles† (Pfiffner & Brook, 2000). Since then, the merit system and its principles have been implemented both in the public sector and in private sector in the country. The merit system can be defined as a personnel system applied in the process of hiring and promoting government employees based on merit to obtain the highest efficiency in public personnel functions. The application of the merit system in the public education sector has brought about unending controversies especially with the merit pay issue. The merit pay systems emphasizes on the fact that teachers are to be paid for their achievement in the classroom as opposed to their seniority or the number of ed-school credits that they have collected as it has been done from the 1920s period. Reformers in the education system including the government have emphasized that the merit pay will encourage high performing teachers to do well and drive the lazy ones away, thereby improving the performance of public schools. However, teachers’ unions have continually opposed the move stating that there is no objective way of measuring the classroom performance of a teacher. In addition to this, opposing views have pointed to the fact that the merit pay system has a high chance of failing

Prosecute Billy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Prosecute Billy - Essay Example Any civil claims cannot be brought up whilst the case is in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service, which is strictly a criminal prosecution service. To begin with, it is necessary to see that Billy’s actions caused Hilda to suffer harm to an extent that she had to be taken to the hospital. These circumstances make it clear that the harm suffered by Hilda was aggravated in nature. She has been hit on the head by a chair leg and is in a condition that she is not allowed visitors. These evidential circumstances bring the harm caused into the ambit of a grievous nature which is governed by section 20 of the OAPA 1861. Section 20 of the OAPA states that: â€Å"Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously wound or inflict any grievous bodily harm upon any other person, either with or without any weapon or instrument shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for five years.† (Jacqueline, Chris 2011, pp 113-116) It is clear from the section that a few elements wi ll need to be proven against Billy before a case under Section 20 can be made out. The first of these has to be the actus reus. For the purposes of Section 20, the actus reus, or the guilty act, has to consist of wounding which amounts to grievous bodily harm and has been inflicted by the defendant. The requirement of ‘wounding ‘ as defined in the case of Moriarty v Brookes ((1834) 6 C&P 684) states that the continuity of the skin as a whole should be disrupted. It is here to be noted that if the blow of the chair which was enough to land Hilda in a hospital whereby she was unavailable for visitors is a sign that the damage caused to her head would well have caused blood to flow, as might any such act where the impact is so harsh do so. As also mentioned in Section 20, the requirement that a weapon or instrument may have been used also stands proved as Billy used a chair to inflict harm onto Hilda’s person. More essentially, Hilda must prove that the harm caused w as of the category of grievous bodily harm as set out in the OAPA 1861. It has been roughly defined as harm which ‘seriously interferes with health or comfort’ (Ashman, 1858 1 FF 88). Judges have also later refined this definition further in cases like Smith ((1961) AC 290), that the definition need not be confined in any sense; the jury and judge alike must take into account the totality of injuries caused and must consider liability for it accordingly. Here, it is clear that a woman who had to be admitted to the hospital had indeed suffered serious harm which cannot be taken lightly and is does qualify fully the requirement laid down in Section 20 of the infliction of grievous bodily harm. Further, it is necessary to prove that Billy has indeed ‘inflicted’ the injuries on Hilda for which he is to be held liable. It is expressly believed that in legal terms, infliction takes place when either the defendant directly and violently inflicts the injury by assa ulting the victim or, more widely, where he does something which indirectly applies force on the victim’s person to cause injury. Under this definition, Billy has clearly been direct and violent in using force against Hilda as he hit her on the head with a chair leg and hence, infliction also

The Development And Growth Of Capitalism

The Development And Growth Of Capitalism I will look in particular at the works of Max Weber regarding his Protestant Ethic Theory and Karl Marx alternative theories to explain how capitalism came about in Europe. I will first look at the historical background of both theorists and the actual historical events which influenced central Europe during the 19th century. These events such as the industrial revolution are important to understand how capitalistic modes of economic and societal arrangements developed and what were the contributing factors to this development. It is important to also look at the present Modern Capitalism of contemporary society, and compare it to the past to see how capitalism actually developed and expanded, touching the important, often interlinked concept of Globalisation. Modern capitalist society is described as: The expansion of international commerce on a large scale, also the flowering of a large scale industry, the triumph of machinery, and the growing power of the great financial houses. In a word, it is the present day union of all these phenomena which really constitutes modern capitalism. Capitalism is the rational development of capital, commodities and means of production in a network of an interconnected markets. Both Weber and Marx offer valid explanations for how capitalism came about, they base their works on historical references and suggest different theories to explain this phenomena. To create a more clear picture I will also compare the works of other theorists such as Emile Durkheim and Simmel. These will be useful as they will offer alternative approaches and different points of view which can help to understand the main mechanisms which lead to capitalism development. I will conclude by giving my own opinion based on the constructed evidence from various theorists on how Capitalism came about in Europe. I will try to asses what have been the most influential factors that brought to this development in this specific part of the world. Weber Max Weber was a sociologist, he offered a theory which basically seeks to describe Capitalism. This theory is based on the process of Rationalization which Weber believes to be at the roots of Capitalism development. In order to understand Webers Protestant Ethic Theory, it is useful to have a quick look at his family background: Weber was born in a middle class family, his father was a business man and embraced liberal values, described as a man who enjoyed earthly pleasures. On the other hand, Webers Mother appeared to have contrasting ideologies with the husband. She was a strong Calvinist who embraced puritan values and absolutist ideas. While Webers father was the typical image of the capitalist entrepreneur which invested and indulged in the luxuries of life, Webers mother reflected the conservative, minimalist puritan Calvinist spirit. It is no doubt that Weber was thorn between these to views and much of his work is influenced by the discrepancies between his parents. Weber was also interested in how religion influenced identities and values in central Europe. This interest could be linked to his mother strong religious values and how Weber saw a connection between Protestantism and Capitalism. Weber constructed his idea of the Protestant ethic to explain how capitalism came about. He bases his work on the question :Why did Capitalism begin in Western Europe rather than Asia?. He argued that the Protestant religion, among with its branches such as Calvinism, created the perfect ideals and behaviours which helped spread and promote capitalism. And suggested that the existence and development of Protestantism in Western Europe, together with the development of Capitalism in Western Europe were two interlinked events. Weberss therefore describes religion as the core process which brought to capitalism development in Western Europe. Weber used his rationalization theory to compare religions around the world and found that the most rational religious system was Calvinism. He believed other world religions such as Hinduism, Confucianism and Taoism were more irrational and therefore inhibited capitalism development. The nature of Protestantism and Calvinism does actually reflect possible rational behaviours; this is shown in the ideal of predestination which is embedded in Protestants, this means that ones position in society has been decided by a higher authority (God) and therefore individuals should not complain for their position in society. This merged very well with the development of capitalism as the process of industrial revolution in capitalist development involved large amount of property-less labourers which worked for the few rich property owners. While the concept of predestination helped to suggest an explaination for ones position in society, rationalization was manifested in Protestantism by the puritan minimalist ideology. Most protestants were afraid of divine judgement, unable to be forgiven by the priest like catholics, protestants searched for an answer in their behaviour. Many protestants lived minimalist lives to escape from lifes luxuries and therefore behaved in a rational manner by accumulating, working hard and creating wealth to prove to themselves and others that they were predestined to have success and go to heaven. A difficulty in using Webers works to understand capitalism is that his expalinations are very specific to the historical periods that he studied. Because of this it becomes more difficult to compare and place the protestant ethic theory into context with the capitalism of future periods. While the protestant ethic theory might serve an explanation for capitalism development at the time, it is harder to believe of Protestantism development as the driving factor for capitalism. Webers theory acknowledges that culture is therefore the driving factor for economic development and not vice versa. In my opinion Webers explanations are highly specific to particular historical periods and cannot be used to compare and describe capitalism at a later period in time. This is because ethical values and ideas are under constant change and evolve to fit with the contemporary society. More criticism on Webers theory is that capitalism began much earlier in history and that Calvinism alone did not serve in developing economic growth and capitalistic modes of production and consumption. Joseph Schumpeter argues that capitalism began much before the industrial revolution. Italy in the 14th century was composed of many small independent city states like Florence, Milan and Venice and these were the first forms of capitalistic societies which appeared; Through trade and high accumulation of capital these Italian city states represent the first capitalistic modes of economic organisation. Other empirical evidence shows how countries with a relative popular Calvinist religion did not always score high economically and in developing capitalism. For example Scotland and the Netherlands although predominantly Calvinist states, did not develop at the same speed of England or the mainly Catholic state of Belgium. Recent works have shown how Protestantism influenced capitalism not because of the protestant ethics and values, but more so because of the promotion of education and literacy that Protestantism brought in Europe. As capitalism was a process which had already begun before the religious Reformation, it is difficult to imagine that capitalism would not have developed under a Catholic religion. Contemporary empirical evidence shows how capitalism modes can be applied to almost any country disregarding religious differences. The spread of capitalism throughout the world does not need the protestant values in order to be ethically tolerable for people, therefore it is hard to believe that Protestant culture influenced the economy. Rather more plausible is Karl Marxs approach which describes how economical development and growth shapes cultures and values in society. Marx Karl Marx offers us a different approach than Webers which is useful in understanding capitalistic development in Western Europe. Marx was born in a middle class family, he was strongly influenced by Hegel. Unlike Weber, Marx sought to influence the masses rather than the elites of power. His ideas offer a theory of a capitalist society based on the simplistic nature of human beings. He believed that it is in the nature of human beings to be productive in order to survive, provide for themselves and live life. Marx argues that it is only in capitalistic society where the breakdown of human actions becomes so acute and rational that it creates negative effects. Marxs describes the process of Alienation as the crux of the problems with capitalist society. By Alienation he means the process where the worker feels alienated/foreign to his labour. He contrasts how previously workers were in close contact with their costumers and to a fuller part of business experience which supplied more gratifying incentives and values for the worker. Capitalism brought the alienation of the worked as with the industrial revolution masses of people became employed in jobs where producers do not have contact with consumers, therefore creating a dehumanising effect. Marx in the fetishism of commodities describes how the worker is alienated from his product because he no longer owns that product. This shift in ownership from the individual producer to a single individual (boss) who controls the production creates the alienation of the worker. Marx focus was directed more at the individual rather than to culture in understanding capitalism. He believed that economic development shaped culture and that religion was merely an epiphenomenon. The general Marxist view is that of a capitalistic boss which is lazy, tyrannical and demanding. This had a negative influence on the workers which were abused and largely exploited by capitalistic owners which benefited from this mode of production. This can be interpreted as a process of rationalization, this is shown in the way that it is more rational to have mass production instead of individual production. Workers required abilities were reduced and their tasks became more and more simple, repetitive and uniform, leaving most of the benefits of rationalization to the property owners, while negatively affecting the low class workers which were alienated from their labour and society. Simmel Simmel in his works touches what Marx had achieved with his works on alienation. Providing a micro point of view Simmel suggests that the Urbanization of society ( movement of masses from countryside to cities) which began with the industrial revolution, created capitalistic centres for finance, business and trade. This offers a theory which is based on the topic of migration. In my opinion it offers a more plausible explanation than Weber as it analyses broader events such as the industrial revolution and population density shifts which more strongly than religion influenced economys need for rationalization and more efficient modes of production in order to provide for all. The focus of Simmel on individual interactions rather than Weber and Marx preoccupation with large scale issues such as Capitalist Development and Rationalization of society, helped to actually create a broader point of view which stems from the individual to represent the reality of an entire society which is becoming more Blasà ©. This means that individuals, overwhelmed by the large amounts of commodities and stimuli present in urban environments are becoming more unaffected by society and the world around us. Basically it describes a process of increased individualisation where everything has become commoditised and capital is used in almost every relation in our life, making society blasà ©. This blasà © theory finds similarities with Marx theory of alienation. Both describe a problem of individuals relations in a capitalist society where feelings and ethics are given up for greater rationality, calculability and uniformity. These are the negatives of the process of capitalism which is growing more and more in contemporary society. Émile Durkheim Born from a high class background, Durkheim theories of Durkheim developed a theory of individual behaviour. He divided social facts in material and non material facts. Durkheim described non-material social facts such as institutions and culture and material social facts such as bureaucracy and law. In his work the division of labour in society Conclusion Looking at the four theorists which seek to understand capitalism development in Western Europe I have came up with critiques and praises for various theories. I find it hard to support Webers protestant ethic theory as it assumes that cultural development shapes economic development. There is a lot of empirical evidence which suggest that economic development was already running in West Europe under a capitalistic mode of production prior to the religious reformation which brought the rise of Protestantism, Calvinism and other branches. Weber fails to address the importance of migration, urbanization and the increase of rationalization as the main factors for capitalistic development, instead he seeks to find the origins of capitalism in a set of values and ethics belonging only to a section of society. Evidence shows that not always Protestant states dominated economically compared to Catholic states. The origins of capitalism date back to much earlier historical periods and can be explained by Webers theory of rationalization, but the empirical importance on religion in capitalism development is overstated and perhaps a broader view taking into account religion, economic development and rationalization is perhaps more useful. Marx theory of alienation is also useful in understanding capitalism development, indeed the increased rationalization brought by capitalism had a strong influence in workers alienation and in a increase of productivity in exchange for a loss in creativity and lead to the development of a mass production mass consumption system which laid out the foundations for a labour-capital intensive economic system that we call capitalism. Marx focuses on universal ethical values that clash with capitalism, these are Justice, Liberty and Equality, and sees capitalism as the process that undermines these ethical values. Marx solution involves the eventual rebellion of the masses against their capitalist employers, this phenomenon has not happened in most of the capitalist world and it seems that capitalism as we know today is the most Just system that is available today. Marxism perhaps gives too much importance to economic development failing to broaden itself to include cultural development and transformation in society during capitalism development, this cultural development is linked to increased rationalism which is embedded in human nature and the increased individualization of the individual which is a process which greatly influenced the development of capitalism together with economic development and profit maximisation.

Stem Cell Research :: Controversy, Debate, Politics

Stem cells are cells that can form into any type of cell, they are found in bone marrow, embryos, fetuses, and blood from the umbilical cord. Early in development, a human embryo is made up of a hollow ball of cells called a â€Å"blastocyst†. Blastocyst cells divide and eventually develop into all of the tissues and organs of a human being, a process called â€Å"differentiation†. Embryonic stem cells can be grown in the laboratory from blastocysts and made to differentiate into nerve, liver, muscle, blood, and other cells. Scientists hope to control the differentiation of the cells to replace cells in diseased organs in human beings. Embryonic stem cells can also be used to test the effects of new drugs without harming animals or people. In adult human beings, stem cells are found in many places in the body, including the skin, liver, bone marrow, and muscles. In the organs, stem cells remain inactive until they are needed. The stem cells supply each organ with cells needed to replace damaged or dead cells. Bone marrow stem cells divide to produce more stem cells, additional cells called â€Å"precursor cells†, and all of the different cells that make up the blood and immune system. Precursor cells have the ability to form many different types of cells, but they cannot produce more stem cells. Scientists can isolate bone marrow stem cells to use as donor cells in transplants. Adult stem cells, however, are rare and more difficult to detect and isolate. The discovery and isolation of embryonic stem cells has led to debate over whether it is right to use cells taken from human embryos for research. People have expressed concern about using human embryos and collecting some of their cells. Some people consider embryos already to be human beings. The embryos are destroyed in the process of isolating the stem cells. Once removed from an embryo, stem cells alone cannot form another embryo or develop into a human being. Many people consider it wrong to destroy human embryos, but other people believe that the potential medical benefits of stem cells justify their use. Scientists have found that stem cells can grow into 210 types of cells in the human body. Scientists believe that these cells can be used to cure many diseases that they have tried to find a cure for. Stem Cell Research :: Controversy, Debate, Politics Stem cells are cells that can form into any type of cell, they are found in bone marrow, embryos, fetuses, and blood from the umbilical cord. Early in development, a human embryo is made up of a hollow ball of cells called a â€Å"blastocyst†. Blastocyst cells divide and eventually develop into all of the tissues and organs of a human being, a process called â€Å"differentiation†. Embryonic stem cells can be grown in the laboratory from blastocysts and made to differentiate into nerve, liver, muscle, blood, and other cells. Scientists hope to control the differentiation of the cells to replace cells in diseased organs in human beings. Embryonic stem cells can also be used to test the effects of new drugs without harming animals or people. In adult human beings, stem cells are found in many places in the body, including the skin, liver, bone marrow, and muscles. In the organs, stem cells remain inactive until they are needed. The stem cells supply each organ with cells needed to replace damaged or dead cells. Bone marrow stem cells divide to produce more stem cells, additional cells called â€Å"precursor cells†, and all of the different cells that make up the blood and immune system. Precursor cells have the ability to form many different types of cells, but they cannot produce more stem cells. Scientists can isolate bone marrow stem cells to use as donor cells in transplants. Adult stem cells, however, are rare and more difficult to detect and isolate. The discovery and isolation of embryonic stem cells has led to debate over whether it is right to use cells taken from human embryos for research. People have expressed concern about using human embryos and collecting some of their cells. Some people consider embryos already to be human beings. The embryos are destroyed in the process of isolating the stem cells. Once removed from an embryo, stem cells alone cannot form another embryo or develop into a human being. Many people consider it wrong to destroy human embryos, but other people believe that the potential medical benefits of stem cells justify their use. Scientists have found that stem cells can grow into 210 types of cells in the human body. Scientists believe that these cells can be used to cure many diseases that they have tried to find a cure for.