Vivisection (from Latin vivus 'alive' and sectio 'cutting') is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative[1] catch-all term for experimentation on live animals[2][3][4] by organizations opposed to animal experimentation,[5] but the term is rarely used by practicing scientists.[3][6] Human vivisection, such as live organ harvesting, has been perpetrated as a form of torture.[7][8]
^Croce, Pietro. Vivisection or Science? An Investigation into Testing Drugs and Safeguarding Health. Zed Books, 1999, and "About Us"Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine, British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.