Maria Branyas Morera, once recognized as the world’s oldest living person, had a poignant final wish for Dr. Manel Esteller, chairman of genetics at the University of Barcelona’s School of Medicine: ‘Please study me.’ She passed away last summer in Olot, Spain, at the remarkable age of 117. A photograph shows Maria Branyas Morera, seated, smiling alongside Dr. Manel Esteller, who sought to uncover the reasons for her exceptional longevity.
Driven by her request, Dr. Esteller and his team of colleagues embarked on an extensive study, analyzing Ms. Branyas’s blood, saliva, urine, and stool in a quest to understand the secrets behind her extraordinary lifespan. Their findings, recently published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, suggest a combination of self-care and genetic fortune. Maria adhered to a Mediterranean diet, abstained from smoking and drinking, and maintained an hour-long daily walk until the early 2000s. Crucially, she possessed genetic variants that researchers believe contribute to a longer life, offering protection against common ailments such as high cholesterol, dementia, heart disease, and cancer. Dr. Esteller noted that her cells remarkably appeared younger than her chronological age.
Furthermore, her microbiome — the community of microbes inhabiting her body — showed low levels of inflammation and a rich presence of beneficial Bifidobacterium, a bacteria often promoted by yogurt. Maria’s daily habit of consuming three yogurts likely played a role in this. Dr. Esteller emphasized that high inflammation levels are strongly linked to accelerated aging. Immaculata De Vivo, a molecular geneticist at Harvard University not involved in the study, found the researchers’ explanations for Ms. Branyas’s longevity to be ‘scientifically reasonable.’ However, she advised caution, stressing the importance of distinguishing findings from individual cases from broader, well-controlled population studies. Dr. De Vivo pointed out that while genetics and metabolism influence disease risk, ‘disease causation is generally a matter of probabilities rather than absolutes.’ Essentially, simply having ‘good’ genes or a healthy microbiome isn’t a guarantee of extreme longevity.
Dr. Mary Armanios, an oncologist and geneticist from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, expressed reservations, particularly questioning the idea that specific genetic variants can definitively predict longevity. She described the genetics of longevity as ‘notoriously confusing.’ Studies often compare the genes of centenarians with younger individuals, but Dr. Armanios highlighted a key flaw: there’s no way to know if those younger participants will actually reach 100 years old. The true goal, she argued, is a predictive genetic profile, which remains elusive. Dr. Armanios further stressed that genetics and a healthy microbiome are merely pieces of the longevity puzzle. She pointed to significant disparities in life expectancy tied to socioeconomic factors, citing a 20-year difference between inner-city and suburban residents in Baltimore. While acknowledging that ‘bad genetics’ can limit lifespan, she questioned whether ‘good genetics’ alone can overcome profound socioeconomic disadvantages.
Regardless of the complex factors, Ms. Branyas exhibited remarkable resilience throughout her life. Born in San Francisco in 1907 to Spanish parents who had immigrated for work, Maria’s early life saw her return to Spain with her mother at age eight after her father’s death. She married and raised a family, including a son who passed at 52, and two daughters who are now in their early nineties. While her extended family succumbed to common ailments like Alzheimer’s, accidents, cancer, tuberculosis, kidney failure, and heart disease, Ms. Branyas continued to defy expectations. She appeared to embody all the theoretical prerequisites for a long life: a genetic predisposition to avoid chronic diseases, coupled with an exemplary lifestyle. Dr. Esteller observed her strong social ties, noting she maintained a close circle of family and friends, even forging new connections as old ones passed. She remained in the same town as her family. Maria lived independently until 2001, when mobility challenges necessitated a move to a nursing home. Remarkably, she continued to play the piano until just five years before her passing. Dr. Esteller concluded, ‘She lived a healthy life.’