rhesus
pronunciation
How to pronounce rhesus in British English:
UK [ˈriːsəs]
How to pronounce rhesus in American English:
US [ˈriːsəs]
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- Noun:
- of southern Asia; used in medical research
Word Origin
- rhesus
- 1827, from Modern Latin genus name of a type of East Indian monkey (1799), given by French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Audebert (1759-1800), said to be an arbitrary use of Latin Rhesus, name of a legendary prince of Thrace, from Greek Rhesos.
Example
- 1. Critics , however , are not yet ready to accept that the rhesus study proves caloric restriction works in primates .
- 2. Although few similar studies of other primates have been conducted , recent research with rhesus monkeys has shown only very limited shrinkage with age .
- 3. Scientists use rhesus monkeys to study hiv / aids drugs , research vaccines for rabies , smallpox and polio , and to study potential uses for embryonic stem cells .
- 4. Nevertheless , the evolutionary lineages leading to humans and rhesus monkeys diverged about 30 million years ago , leaving scientists in the dark about when the human pattern of brain aging might have begun .
- 5. Testing whether calorie restriction also stretches human life span is impractical , however , so more than 20 years ago , scientists put two groups of rhesus monkeys ( which have an average life span of about 27 years ) on skimpy rations .