Maria Branyas, the longest-lived person ever recorded, with Dr Manel Esteller. Credit: Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute
Maria Branyas was the world’s oldest verified living person from 17 January 2023 to 19 August 2024, when she passed away in her sleep at the age of 117 years and 168 days.
A new study, published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, has analysed her genetics, epigenetics, proteins, metabolism and microbiome compared to other populations to reveal insights into extreme ageing and healthy longevity.
Despite displaying the hallmarks of advanced age – such as very short telomeres (the ends of chromosomes), a pro-inflammatory immune system and an aged population of B lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) – Branyas never suffered from age-associated serious diseases like cancer or neurodegenerative disease.
The researchers say the findings show that extremely advanced age and poor health are not intrinsically linked and that both processes can be distinguished and dissected at the molecular level.
“She was a Caucasian woman born on March 4th, 1907, in San Francisco, USA, from Spanish parents and settled in Spain since she was 8,” write the authors of the paper.
“She kept a strong physical and mental health throughout life with good sleep habits, balanced Mediterranean diet, and active social life. She largely enjoyed from quality time with family and friends, playing with dogs, reading books, growing a garden, walking, and playing the piano.”
Branyas exceeded the average life expectancy of women in Catalonia (86 years) by more than 3 decades.
“Although centenarians are becoming more common in the demographics of human populations, the so-called supercentenarians (over 110 years old) are still a rarity,” the authors add.
Branyas’ tissue environments, genetics and epigenetics – changes in gene expression which occur without altering the DNA sequence – showed signs of healthy longevity.
“This … is evidenced by the presence of genetic variants protective against common diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and neurodegeneration), an efficient lipid metabolism, an anti-inflammatory gut microbiome, and an epigenome associated with chromosomal stability and decelerated epigenetic aging,” the authors write.
They also identified 7 genetic variants in Branyas’ genome which had not been described in any of the European control populations examined. This suggests they could have contributed to her extreme lifespan.
Branyas’ habits and environment may have shaped her ageing too.
For example, each day she ate around 3 yogurts, which contained bacteria known to favour the growth of Bifidobacterium – anti-inflammatory bacteria which dominated her gut microbiome.
“Whether the dominance of the Bifidobacterium related genus is fully attributable or not to the yogurt diet cannot be completely confirmed since that would have required a longitudinal study with sample collection over several years,” the authors caution.
“However, we believe that it is likely that a beneficial effect of yogurt ingestion via modulation of the gut ecosystem could have contributed to her well-being and advanced age.”
The findings, they say, provide a fresh look at human aging biology, suggesting biomarkers for healthy aging, and potential strategies to increase life expectancy.
“The extrapolation of our results to the general population will require larger cohorts and longitudinal prospective studies to design potential anti-aging interventions.”