Renowned scientist says human-chimpanzee hybrid has been born in experiment

This raises a number of ethical issues.

Evolutionary psychologist Gordon Gallup has claimed that a human-chimpanzee crossbreed was created in a lab in Orange Park, Florida, almost a century ago. “One of the most interesting cases involved an attempt which was made back in the 1920s in what was the first primate research centre established in the US in Orange Park, Florida," he said in an interview with The Sun. [caption id="attachment_160166" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Credit Getty Images[/caption] “They inseminated a female chimpanzee with human semen from an undisclosed donor and claimed not only that pregnancy occurred but the pregnancy went full term and resulted in a live birth. “But in the matter of days, or a few weeks, they began to consider the moral and ethical considerations and the infant was euthanised." The psychologist is well-known within the evolutionary community, having developed the mirror self-recognition test that attempts to prove self-awareness in primates. Gallup also coined the term 'humanzee' to describe a chimpanzee-human hybrid species after 'Oliver' was discovered in the 1970s - a bald male chimp that walked on its hind legs. [caption id="attachment_160167" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Credit Getty Images[/caption] After causing an initial stir within the scientific community, tests eventually revealed that Oliver had 48 chromosomes and was therefore not an authentic 'humanzee'. Gallup, however, has stated that he believes such a creature to have been born in the past, citing a former university professor as the source of his anecdote. The moral and ethical complications of such an event are enough to give you a headache and the scientist managed to sit firmly on the fence when he was asked whether he was in favour of the experiment. “I think it’s a fascinating question and I think it would have profound psychological and biological implications," he added. “But whether the cost would justify the benefit is the other question in this equation.” Russian biologist Ilya Ivanov held no such internal debate when he attempted to create a race of human/non-human ape hybrids in the 1920s, but, as you can probably tell, any plans to conquer the world using an army of monkey super-soldiers failed miserably. And I, for one, remain extremely grateful.