A international team of more than 170 scientists from 35 institutions have decoded the genetic make-up of the rhesus macaque, an Old World monkey. The research indicates macaques diverged from our ancestors 25 million years ago.It is the third primate (after humans and chimps) to have the secrets of its DNA laid bare.
The work, led by the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, is reported in the journal Science.
Researchers say the information will help them understand better the evolutionary relationships between humans and their closest relatives.
They say in their analysis that the rhesus macaque, chimp and humans share about 97.5% of the same genes.
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