Biologist wants to inseminate 5 women with orangutan sperm
A name to remember: Ivanov. In 1926, this Russian biologist began inseminating female chimpanzees from Guinea, to create what was to be the “first human-ape hybrid”.
Born in 1870, biologist Ilya Ivanov specialized in inter-species hybridization and artificial insemination. He was also one of the first scientists of his time to create the “zebra donkey”, a cross between a zebra and a donkey. While he wanted to push the limits of experimentation further, Ivanov decided to tackle a much larger project: the creation of a human-ape hybrid. He then inseminated several African female monkeys, using human sperm… without any success. All the monkeys brought back to France died, with the exception of one orangutan. Next step: fertilize 5 female volunteers with the sperm of this last survivor; a plan condemned by the Soviet Academy and never succeeds considering that these experiments were described as immoral. In 1930, following political conflicts that impact the country's scientific institutions, Ivanov goes into exile in Alma Ata where he dies two years later.
(MH with AsD/Source: Techniques de l'Ingénieur/Illustration: Unsplash)
