Woman Who Lived to 117 Asked Researchers to Study Her Before Death. Now They’re Revealing Clues to Her Long Life

In August 2024, Maria Branyas Morera — the world’s oldest person at the time — died at the age of 117. Before her death, however, she asked doctors to study her. Dr. Manel Esteller, chairman of genetics at the University of Barcelona’s School of Medicine, has since fulfilled her dying wish.

On Wednesday, Sept. 24, Esteller and a large cohort of colleagues published a new study in the Cell Reports Medicine journal that analyzed Morera’s health. Researchers examined her blood, saliva, urine and stool to determine what factors contributed to her long life.

Esteller determined that Morera’s longevity could be attributed to her healthy lifestyle habits as well as her great genes.

“She never smoked, she never drank alcohol, she liked to work until she could [not] … She lived in the countryside, she did moderate exercise [mostly walking one hour a day] … She had a diet that included olive oil, Mediterranean style and, in her case, yogurt,” he told CNN.

Additionally, Morera won the genetic lottery with variants that have been reported to protect against common risk factors like high cholesterol levels, dementia, heart disease and cancer.

“She had cells that seemed younger than her age,” Esteller told the New York Times.

Esteller also explained that chronic inflammation is one of the main causes of aging and disease. Marera was able to combat such inflammation by eating three yogurts every day.

Claire Steves, a professor of aging at King’s College London who wasn’t involved in the study, told CNN that although the research findings are impressive, broad conclusions shouldn’t be drawn from this study because the aging process is different for everyone.

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However, like Esteller, she recognized that the study was beneficial in identifying the genes and proteins involved in healthy aging for future research.

“Ill-health in age is not inevitable. It comes about because of biological mechanisms … it’s something we can change,” Steves said, pointing out that “it’s not going to be one single bullet, it’s got to be multiple different pathways.”

“Our aim should not necessarily be to all live to 117,” she told the outlet. “What we want to do is to try and squash the time when we’re unwell and suffering to as small as possible. And that’s what this lady seems to have done, as well as living to a long time.”

In January 2023, the Guinness World Records confirmed Morera as the planet’s oldest living person following the death of 118-year-old Lucile Randon of France.

According to her New York Times obituary, Morera was married to a doctor for 40 years in Girona, Spain. The couple shared three children together and later welcomed over a dozen grandchildren.

Morera went on to reside in the Residència Santa María del Tura nursing home in Olot, Spain, for over 20 years. Her daughter would often help her post photos and words of wisdom on X.

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“Life is not eternal for anyone,” she wrote in January 2023. “At my age, a new year is a gift, a humble celebration, a new adventure, a beautiful journey, a moment of happiness. Let’s enjoy life together.”

On Aug. 20, 2024, her family announced that Morera had died “peacefully” in her sleep.

“Maria Branyas has left us. She has died as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain,” they wrote in Catalan. “We will always remember her for her advice and kindness.”

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