Vivisection
From Latin vivus ("alive") + sectio ("cutting"), Vivisection is surgery conducted upon a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to directly view living internal structure for purposes other than the health of the subject. In many jurisdictions, use of anaesthesia is legally mandated for any surgery likely to cause pain to any vertebrate[1].
A broader interpretation includes non-behavioural experimental research involving living animals.[2] In this interpretation, the term is preferred by those opposed to research using animals, as there it implies otherwise avoidable suffering. In the scientific community, vivisection for living tissue study has been superseded by modern techniques, and the term "animal experimentation" is applied to all research involving animal studies, regardless of mortality.
Non-arbitrary research requiring vivisection techniques that cannot be met through other means are often subject to an external ethics review in conception and implementation. Although vivisection is restricted to cancer and other malignant disease research, the distinction between humanitarian and commercial goals remains a contentious issue.[3][4]
See also
- Dissection
- History of animal testing
- Human subject research
- Animal rights
- Unit 731
- The Island of Doctor Moreau
Notes
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Vivisection", Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007. Also see Croce, Pietro. Vivisection or Science? An Investigation into Testing Drugs and Safeguarding Health. Zed Books, 1999, and "FAQs: Vivisection", British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.
- ^ Paixao, RL; Schramm, FR. Ethics and animal experimentation: what is debated? Cad. Saúde Pública, Rio de Janeiro, 2007
- ^ Yarri, Donna. The Ethics of Animal Experimentation, Oxford University Press U.S., 2005