Before in vitro fertilization was ever attempted on a human level, a battery of experiments were performed on many animals to test theories and procedures. The landmark study that proved IVF eggs could survive, for example, was done with rabbits. Artificial insemination did not stop after the first successful human application. In fact, if anything, the birth of the first in vitro baby encouraged scientists to widen their experiments to other animals to understand both their and our own embryonic development from single cell to fully-formed baby.

On this day, July 25, in 1983, exactly five years after the birth of the first in-vitro baby, the first primate, a baboon, was conceived at the Southwest Foundation for Research and Education in San Antonio.

The fertiziled baboon egg was named E.T., short for Embryo Transfer, and was implanted in a surrogate mother to carry to term. Dr. Thomas J. Kuehl, head of the foundation’s perinatal biology program noted that the previous nine attempts at IVF in primates failed, and the 10% success rate was about equal to that of human IVF attempts, for reasons unknown. But he hoped the procedure could be perfect ED, to allow the breeding of monkeys with specific genetic conditions scientists wanted to study.