NHPs (Non Human Primates) are the only experimental species that can be successfully infected with the poliomyelitis virus and are, therefore, extensively used for producing and testing polio vaccine. Since the 1960s, only captivebred long-tailed macaques and wild-caught vervet monkeys have been used, both of which are free from the SV40 virus. A major polio vaccine producer based in Europe uses kidney cells derived from approximately 150 vervet monkeys per annum to produce between 600-1000 million doses of the vaccine.

Unfortunately, the primate test remains the gold standard for OPV neurovirulence testing, and the WHO Committee recommended that this test
should still be used to assess new virus seedlots or changes in the manufacturing process.

The Rhesus Macaque is well known to science owing to its relatively easy upkeep in captivity, and has been used extensively in medical and biological research. It has given its name to the Rhesus factor, one of the elements of a person's blood group, by the discoverers of the factor, Karl Landsteiner and Alexander Wiener. The Rhesus Macaque was also used in the well-known experiments on maternal deprivation carried out in the 1950s by comparative psychologist Harry Harlow. NASA launched Rhesus Macaques into space during the 1950s and 60s, and the Soviet/Russian space program launched them into space as recently as 1997 on the Bion missions.
In January of 2000, the Rhesus Macaque became the first cloned primate with the birth of Tetra. January 2001 saw the birth of ANDi, the first transgenic primate; ANDi carries foreign genes originally from a jellyfish.
Work on the genome of the Rhesus Macaque was completed in 2007,[3] making Rhesus Macaque the second non-human primate to have its genome sequenced. The study [4] shows that humans and macaques share about 93% of their DNA sequence and shared a common ancestor roughly 25 million years ago.
Though most studies of the Rhesus Macaque are from various locations in northern India, some of our knowledge of the natural behaviour of the species comes from studies carried out on a colony established by the Caribbean Primate Research Center of the University of Puerto Rico on the island of Cayo Santiago, off Puerto Rico. There are no predators on the island, and humans are not permitted to land except as part of the research programmes. The colony is provisioned to some extent, but about 50% of its food comes from natural foraging. In other more controlled settings, these macaques often enjoy Fig Newtons and apricots, and are particularly keen on "pouching" large quantities of marshmallow.

Rhesus and Bonnets are among the most commensal of non-human primates in India, often thriving in agricultural areas and human habitats: villages, towns, cities, temple sites, and public parks. They live in forest areas, but
are most conspicuous in human-dominated environments where they are frequent pests. As such, they are at the opposite end of the conservation spectrum—the problem becomes one of population control of excessive numbers, rather than total protection of declining numbers.