Lifestyle and environment also matter.
And random biological events matter too.
The Importance of Lifestyle Cannot Be Ignored
It would be tempting to look at Branyas's genome and conclude that she simply won the genetic lottery.
But her lifestyle also attracted attention.
According to researchers, she did not smoke and did not drink alcohol. She followed a Mediterranean-style diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes and olive oil.
She also reportedly ate plain, sugar-free yogurt regularly — three servings a day according to the University of Leicester's account.
These details are interesting because they fit several established principles of healthy ageing.
A Mediterranean-style dietary pattern has been associated with cardiovascular and metabolic health in many populations.
But it is important not to turn Branyas's diet into a miracle prescription.
Eating yogurt three times a day has not been proven to make people live to 117.
Likewise, no single food can reproduce her biological characteristics.
Her longevity likely reflected a combination of factors accumulated over many decades.
Her genetics may have helped.
Her diet may have helped.
Avoiding tobacco may have helped.
Her metabolic profile may have helped.
Her immune system may have helped.
Her microbiome may have helped.
And there may have been factors scientists have not yet discovered.
The Mystery of “Healthy Ageing”
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Branyas's story is not simply that she lived to 117.
It is that researchers found signs that her body had remained unusually resilient while she was alive.
Extreme longevity and healthy longevity are not necessarily the same thing.
A person can live a long time while spending many years with severe disease or disability.
Scientists are therefore increasingly interested in healthspan — the number of years a person lives in relatively good health — rather than lifespan alone.
The World Health Organization emphasizes that longer lives are most meaningful when people can maintain functional ability and participate in the activities that matter to them.
Branyas represents an extreme example of this question.
How did her body avoid or delay many of the diseases normally associated with very advanced age?
The 2025 multiomics study offers several possible answers.
Her genetic profile may have reduced susceptibility to certain diseases.
Her immune system appeared relatively resilient.
Her inflammatory levels were low.
Her lipid metabolism was efficient.
Her gut microbiome contained bacteria associated with younger profiles.
Her epigenetic age appeared substantially younger than her chronological age.
These findings do not operate independently.
They may be interconnected.
The Biological Systems May Have Worked Together
Imagine ageing not as a single clock but as an orchestra.
The immune system is one instrument.
Metabolism is another.
The gut microbiome is another.
The genome provides the basic instructions.
The epigenome helps regulate which instructions are active.
Inflammation acts as part of the body's response system.
The cardiovascular system delivers oxygen and nutrients throughout the body.
When these systems remain coordinated, the body may be better able to withstand the stresses of ageing.
When several systems deteriorate simultaneously, disease risk may rise.
This systems-level perspective is one reason multiomics studies are becoming increasingly important.
Instead of asking, “Which gene made María Branyas live so long?” researchers can ask a more complicated but potentially more useful question: