When Maria Branyas died in 2024 at the age of 117, she was considered a scientific unicorn. Researchers in Spain seized the opportunity to study her biology, and what they found in her blood, gut, and genes may explain why she lived so long. It may also help us rewrite the rules of aging.
Scientists from the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute, publishing their findings in Cell Reports Medicine, discovered that Branyas’ cells looked remarkably well for her age. It’s as if her cells had partaken in a little biological time travel.
Her genome and immune system behave like they belong to someone decades younger. Her cardiovascular system was pristine. And her inflammation levels were low, plus her cholesterol stats looked like she hadn’t eaten a single fatty steak her whole life.
That last bit can likely be explained, at least in part, by the Mediterranean diet that she naturally ate while living in Spain. Researchers say she had a big appetite, potentially demonstrating how, in some people, it’s not how much you eat but what you eat.
Branyas had rare genetic variants associated with healthy aging, immune resilience, and protection of the heart and brain. But her telomeres, those little caps on the ends of DNA strands that usually shrink with age and signal cellular death, were almost gone.
Paradoxically, that may have helped her. Scientists speculate that her extra-short telomeres may have actually kept cancer at bay, preventing rogue cells from sticking around long enough to become tumors.
She Lived to 117—Here’s What She Said Her Secret Was
Researchers aren’t claiming to have unlocked the secret to immortality from one woman’s sample set. Much more likely that her extended life span was a statistical anomaly. It’s not as if she were just one of several Catalan women who lived to nearly 120 years old.
She outlived the average Catalonian woman by more than 30 years. And while she did stay physically, mentally, and socially active, there is much more reason to believe that she was likely a beneficiary of a genetic jackpot.
That’s not to say that lifestyle choices didn’t help maximize her lifespan. But diet, exercise, and remaining social may not have been the sole and explicit reasons she lived so long. Sometimes, the genetic roll of the dice determines much more than any of your life’s choices.
That said, her case offers a rare peek into what extreme aging can look like. Especially when the body is still mostly functioning well. Studies like this one could help us understand not only how to extend a life, but also someone’s healthspan.
That way, people can not only live longer lives, but also healthier, happier, and more active ones.
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