The idea that we can create human-animal hybrids sounds deranged and downright absurd. Such a thing, we would think, only belongs in fiction, folk tales, or myths. After all, how would it be possible for human DNA to mix with that of an animal? Moreover, there is something about these chimerical combinations that obviously crosses ethical boundaries. It's best to leave them etched only in myths or folklore. However, one Soviet doctor had been so obsessed with the idea of a hybrid human-ape super warrior that he went to great lengths to create them. His name was Ilya Ivanov.
Ivanov had been successful in artificially inseminating horses so that one stallion can breed up to 500 mares. Apart from this, he also specialized in interspecific hybridization of animals, which led him, at some point in his scientific career, to become fixated with creating a human-ape hybrid, which he thought would be incredibly resistant to disease and even potent enough to become super warriors a la Planet of the Apes.
Imagining an army of half-human, half-ape chimeras, clad in red, rampaging through Europe was not enough, he knew, to convince the Soviet government to give him the funds for his research. However, he also knew that Vladimir Lenin and his compatriots were heavily anti-religious. Using this as an opportunity, he presented the idea that creating a human-ape hybrid would basically make them gods who could refashion genetics, anatomy, and physiology. He got the funding and set out to Africa.
However, Ivanov quickly found out that making his very own "humanzee" was not as easy as he thought it would be. He faced various hurdles to the point that he became desperate and almost had to forcefully inseminate women. Thankfully, he was caught and deported. But his pursuit of human-ape hybrids didn't end there. He continued his experimentation until his death, albeit unsuccessful in achieving his goal. Until in 2019, when a collaboration of scientists from the US, China, and Spain successfully created a human-monkey embryo. Is this finally the start of the realization of Ivanov's dream? Only time will tell.
(Image credit: Francesco Ungaro/Unsplash)