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Reaching 117 years old, Maria Branyas Morera offered scientists a rare opportunity to explore how extreme old age can sometimes come without the usual burden of disease. A team led by Dr. Manel Esteller at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in Barcelona conducted an in-depth biological study of Branyas, who was the world’s oldest living person until her death in 2023. Their work, published in Aging Cell, aimed to understand why she remained so healthy for so long, effectively separating “being old” from “being sick.”
By analyzing blood, saliva, urine, and stool samples collected a year before her death, the team uncovered several protective biological traits. Despite having extremely short telomeres—a classic sign of advanced cellular ageing—this may have actually shielded her from cancer by limiting unchecked cell division. Her DNA also carried variants that helped protect her heart and brain, while her body showed low levels of inflammation and efficient cholesterol metabolism, both of which reduce the risk of diseases like diabetes, dementia, and cardiovascular problems.
Further analysis revealed that Branyas’s biological age appeared 10 to 15 years younger than her chronological age, based on epigenetic “clocks.” Her gut microbiome also stood out as unusually youthful, rich in beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium. These findings suggest that her extraordinary longevity was not simply a matter of luck, but rather a combination of advantageous genetics and biological resilience.
Lifestyle also played an important role. Branyas maintained a balanced diet, including yoghurt, avoided smoking and drinking, kept a healthy weight, and enjoyed strong social connections. While not everyone inherits such protective genes, researchers believe her case highlights possible targets for new treatments to delay ageing and preserve health. As Professor João Pedro de Magalhães of the University of Birmingham noted, studying such longevity “outliers” could ultimately help more people age gracefully and live longer, healthier lives.
