Mar 14, 2025 10:46 PM
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...enes-study
INTRO: The US-born woman who was the world’s oldest living person before she died in Spain last August at age 117 once attributed her longevity to “luck and good genetics”. And, evidently, Maria Branyas Morera was right.
A study of Branyas’s microbiome and DNA that scientists began conducting before her death reportedly determined that the genes she inherited allowed her cells to essentially feel and behave as if they were 17 years younger than they actually were. And Branyas’s microbiota – which primarily refers to the bacteria in people’s guts that has a role in keeping them healthy – mirrored that of an infant, according to the research led by University of Barcelona genetics professor Manel Esteller, a leading expert on ageing.
The daily newspaper Ara, which covers the Catalan region where she resided much of her life, first reported on the results of the study into what was described as Branyas’s “privileged genome” earlier in March. Esteller’s team found that Branyas retained her lucidity until almost the very end of her life.
And the ailments that she grappled with during her extended golden years were largely limited to joint pain and hearing loss. Ara reported that Esteller’s work on Branyas amounts to the most complete research yet into a so-called supercentenarian – someone who is 110 or older – as well as some possible explanations for the longevity that marks some lives in particular.
The researchers noted how Branyas made a number of healthy lifestyle choices that also helped her take advantage of her unique genetic makeup. She adhered to a Mediterranean diet that included three yogurts daily.
She avoided drinking alcohol and smoking, enjoyed walks, and constantly surrounded herself with family and loved ones, all of which apparently aided her in staving off declines both physical and mental that could have shortened her life, the researchers concluded.
Esteller and his colleagues said that they hope the study into Branyas provides useful information to those seeking to develop medications and treatments for age-related illnesses... (MORE - details)
INTRO: The US-born woman who was the world’s oldest living person before she died in Spain last August at age 117 once attributed her longevity to “luck and good genetics”. And, evidently, Maria Branyas Morera was right.
A study of Branyas’s microbiome and DNA that scientists began conducting before her death reportedly determined that the genes she inherited allowed her cells to essentially feel and behave as if they were 17 years younger than they actually were. And Branyas’s microbiota – which primarily refers to the bacteria in people’s guts that has a role in keeping them healthy – mirrored that of an infant, according to the research led by University of Barcelona genetics professor Manel Esteller, a leading expert on ageing.
The daily newspaper Ara, which covers the Catalan region where she resided much of her life, first reported on the results of the study into what was described as Branyas’s “privileged genome” earlier in March. Esteller’s team found that Branyas retained her lucidity until almost the very end of her life.
And the ailments that she grappled with during her extended golden years were largely limited to joint pain and hearing loss. Ara reported that Esteller’s work on Branyas amounts to the most complete research yet into a so-called supercentenarian – someone who is 110 or older – as well as some possible explanations for the longevity that marks some lives in particular.
The researchers noted how Branyas made a number of healthy lifestyle choices that also helped her take advantage of her unique genetic makeup. She adhered to a Mediterranean diet that included three yogurts daily.
She avoided drinking alcohol and smoking, enjoyed walks, and constantly surrounded herself with family and loved ones, all of which apparently aided her in staving off declines both physical and mental that could have shortened her life, the researchers concluded.
Esteller and his colleagues said that they hope the study into Branyas provides useful information to those seeking to develop medications and treatments for age-related illnesses... (MORE - details)