Vivisection

Vivisection, specifically, surgery on live animals for the purpose of scientific research; the term has also come to mean any experimentation on live animals. Many millions of animals are used worldwide annually in this way. Humane societies question the needfulness of some vivisection, and in the United States the Animal Welfare Act of 1970 sets limits on the use of animals in laboratories. In many cases simple organisms, tissue cultures, and so forth can be used instead.