Ivanov had extensively studied reproductive biology among animals, and believed that it was possible to create a human-ape hybrid since the DNA sequence of chimpanzees has only a 5% difference from that of humans. This ape-man race So, in French Guinea in the 1920s, Ivanov began experimenting with artificial insemination by using human sperm and attempting to impregnate the chimps. He was working with three female chimps who had been inseminated. As it turns out, the experiment failed, so Ivanov went back to the drawing board and reversed the project entirely.
Proving (if nothing else) that human beings will volunteer for anything, Ivanov managed to acquire five female volunteers to be inseminated with Chimpanzee sperm. He met resistance from the French government and had to move his research back to the Soviet Union, where he had trouble acquiring a male ape. Just as he ordered male apes to be brought to him to acquire their sperm, his work was deemed unprofessional by his veterinary institute and he was arrested. He ended up dying before being released back into the scientific community, leaving all sorts of questions open about the possibility of crossbreeding the two species. Stalin let the pursuit go, too.
There have been claims of experiments creating a hybrid, such as the famous Oliver case, though none have been validated. The concept of the missing link continues to perplex scientists and laypeople today. In the end, this is simply an interesting bit of history. Don't expect modern science to do much by way of these kinds of experiments. So, could it happen? Ivanov thought so. So does Karl Pilkington, but he's no scientist either.
