In vitro fertilization in nonhuman primates.

Ovulation induction, sperm capacitation, and fertilization have been studied for over 50 years in nonhuman primates but it has only been in the past 20 years that extensive studies on sizeable numbers of embryos have been carried out. Of over 200 species of nonhuman primates only a few have been studied and the majority of the findings come from studies of the squirrel monkey, baboon, rhesus, and cynomolgus macaque. Nevertheless, the fertilization process appears to be similar to that identified in other mammals and in man.