![\"Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/f934fd62-475f-4827-853f-3d8cc3d81a93.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe most extensive research into the make-up of a supercentenarian has shown that people can reach extremely advanced years without health issues if they boast a set of biological factors.<\/p>\n
Doctors in Spain investigated the biological profile of Maria Branyas Morera, the oldest person in the world when she died at the age of 117 and a half last year.<\/p>\n
Born in San Francisco in 1907, Branyas moved to Spain aged eight and survived two world wars, the Spanish civil war and both the Spanish flu and Covid-19 pandemics. She contracted Covid at the age of 113 and made a full recovery. Before she died, she asked doctors: \u201cPlease study me so I can help others.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Maria Branyas Morera pictured 100 years ago<\/p>\n
JAM PRESS<\/p>\n
Dr Manel Esteller, the study\u2019s principal investigator, said: \u201cThe common rule is that as we age we become sicker but she was an exception and we wanted to understand why. For the first time, we\u2019ve been able to separate being old from being sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
A group of international scientists led by researchers at the cancer epigenetics group of Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute and the University of Barcelona investigated the full range of Branyas\u2019s genetics and cell structure and compared the results with those from other very old people. <\/p>\n
The team collected blood, saliva, urine and stool samples a year before Branyas\u2019s death to build a picture of her biological profile and then investigated her genetics to observe which parts were turned on and off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can develop drugs to reproduce the effects of good genes,\u201d Esteller said. \u201cMaria\u2019s parents gave her very good genes but we cannot choose our parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Branyas\u2019s longevity cannot be put down merely to her genetics. She was not overweight and did not smoke or drink. She also had a good social life with friends and family nearby.<\/p>\n
The researchers are keen to study whether her thrice-daily yoghurt habit might also have played a critical role. She preferred a local Catalan brand called La Fageda, a probiotic containing high amounts of healthy bacteria, such as Lactobacillus delbrueckii bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, which combat inflammation. <\/p>\n
\u2022 The best yoghurt for your gut health \u2014 is it Greek, skyr or kefir?<\/a><\/p>\n Every morning she drank a smoothie containing eight different cereals. Eloy Santos, a PhD student at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute told The Daily Telegraph that the high amounts of fibre in her diet were \u201cfood for the beneficial populations in the gut, making them thrive\u201d. <\/p>\n \u2022 Gen Z opt for prunes and chickpeas in \u2018fibremaxxing\u2019 trend<\/a><\/p>\n Several markers showed her advanced age and closeness to death, particularly her telomeres, structures at the end of a chromosome, which were too short for DNA stability. This is usually considered to be a precursor of age-related disease. Despite this, the team noticed that she had a particular set of molecular factors which protected her from the other signs of ageing she developed. <\/p>\n \u201cOur study was one of the first to look at the possible reasons for a disconnect between these processes. Telomere length was a good example of this dissociation,\u201d Esteller said. <\/p>\n Branyas\u2019s genetics and lifestyle contributed to her advanced years<\/p>\n JAM PRESS<\/p>\n Branyas was lacking in many molecular markers of age-associated disease. She had advantageous genetic variants as well as efficient cholesterol and lipid metabolism, linked to longer life and to good cognitive health. \u201cThese are all critical because they\u2019re linked to diseases that are typical in older people and they kill you at the end,\u201d Esteller told The Guardian.<\/p>\n Low levels of inflammation helped her to avoid diabetes and cancer<\/a>, and her microbiome contained high levels of \u201cgood\u201d bacteria. An epigenomic investigation showed that her biological age was at least ten to 15 years below her chronological age. <\/p>\n![\"Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/b2042282-e8ec-45af-961e-49c2ac742847.jpg\")
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