Molecular profile of the Spanish supercentenarian who became the oldest person in the world analysed
Maria Branyas was considered the oldest person in the world when she died in 2024 at the age of 117. An international team led by the Cancer Epigenetics group at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute and the University of Barcelona has analysed her molecular profile, including her genome, metabolome, microbiome and epigenome. "Our results have helped us identify factors that could help many older people live longer, healthier lives," say the researchers, whose work is published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.
Archive of the family Branyas Mulberry. / Wikimedia Commons.
250924 Sra Branyas Iñaki EN
Iñaki Martín-Subero
ICREA research professor and head of the Biomedical Epigenomics Group at IDIBAPS in Barcelona
What do you think of the article overall?
"Overall, I think the study is well thought out and uses a huge array of advanced technologies to assess in great detail the cellular and molecular state of a 117-year-old person."
How does it fit in with existing evidence and what new insights does it provide?
"The novelty of this study is the very detailed multi-omic approach in an exceptionally long-lived person. The study reveals both genetic and lifestyle factors associated with a long and healthy life."
Are there any important limitations to consider? Can relevant information be extracted from the analysis of a single person?
"As the authors indicate in the article, the analysis of a single person means that we have to be cautious with our conclusions, which will need to be validated in more supercentenarians. However, these are very rare cases, so even the analysis of a single person is, I think, very interesting and revealing."
ConfIict of interest: "I declare that I have no conflict of interest. I worked with Manel Esteller [one of the authors of the article] 15 years ago and we have not collaborated actively since then".
Eloy Santos-Pujol et al.
- Research article
- Peer reviewed
- Case study
- People
