Brazil is a country where many people live healthily past 100. There is a 106-year-old woman who won her first swimming competition at 100, a 107-year-old man who still goes to work, and a nun who enjoyed chocolate all her life and lived to 116. They are supercentenarians who live to 110 or older, beyond the longevity benchmark of 100.
The journal Nature said on the 27th that a University of São Paulo team decoded the genes of supercentenarians and found that the secret to longevity is innate genetic diversity rather than lifestyle or medical benefits. The findings were published in the journal Genomic Psychiatry.
◇The melting pot of races is the secret to longevity
In the DNA Longevo research project, the team decoded the genes of more than 160 long-lived people. Twenty participants were supercentenarians who had reached 110. The long-lived participants said they had no special diet and did not exercise hard.
The researchers inferred that genetic diversity had a greater impact on longevity. Zatz said, "Brazil is well known as a country made up of diverse races, and this may have contributed to their longevity."
In fact, most participants were found to have ancestors of mixed European, African and Indigenous American ancestry. Paola Sebastiani of Tufts University School of Medicine, a biostatistician, said, "So far, longevity research has focused on genetically homogeneous groups," and noted, "This study helped fill a gap in the field."
Another characteristic of Brazil's long-lived population is that most lived healthily despite limited access to medical care. Zatz said, "Many participants lived in small towns far from hospitals."
Until now, most longevity research has been conducted mainly in the United States, Europe and Japan, where access to medical care is easier. Manel Esteller of the University of Barcelona School of Medicine said, "This suggests that healthy aging is driven by factors other than the latest targeted therapies or early screening."
◇A nun, the world's oldest person, who enjoyed chocolate
Supercentenarians have changed common perceptions about the very old. Among the study participants was nun Inah Canabarro Lucas. Sister Lucas was recognized as the world's oldest person before her death at 116 in Apr. last year. Like the other participants, Sister Lucas did not restrict sugar or fat. Zatz said, "Sister Lucas loved chocolate very much," and added, "She beamed when given chocolate for Easter."
Another notable case is Laura Oliveira, a 106-year-old woman who started swimming at 70 and won her first competition 30 years later. That genes underpin longevity can be seen in the Oliveira family. Laura has younger sisters who are 106 and 101, and an aunt who is 110. Zatz said, "Because genetic factors play an important role in longevity, such families are particularly worth studying," and added, "The Oliveira sisters live in different places, so their longevity is not the result of sharing the same environment."
A 107-year-old man is the oldest person in Brazil with a formal job. He organizes shopping carts at a supermarket. The researchers said the way he worked was completely different from the typical image of a 100-year-old. Most of the long-lived participants also still had good cognitive function.
◇Identifying longevity genes by making mini organs
In this study, supercentenarians showed a capacity to break down and recycle proteins that had reached the end of their lifespan or were damaged at levels similar to those of younger people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they also demonstrated excellent immunity. Three supercentenarians in the study contracted COVID-19 in 2020, when there were no vaccines, and recovered. Their bodies were rich in antibodies that neutralize the virus, and helper T cells increased and acted similarly to cytotoxic T cells, which attack cancer cells or viruses.
To identify gene variants unique to supercentenarians, the team is comparing them with genetic information from younger people who died of natural causes. At the same time, they are reprogramming participants' blood cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). iPS cells are made by inserting specific genes or proteins into fully grown cells to revert them to an embryonic stem cell-like state early in development.
Depending on conditions, iPS cells can grow into all human cell types. The team also created brain organoids from iPS cells. Organoids are stem cells cultured into three-dimensional structures resembling organs, and are called mini organs. Muscle, lung and heart organoids are also being prepared.
The researchers are also measuring participants' immune function and biochemical markers. With this, they plan to generate reference values to understand what "normal" looks like at those ages. Zatz said, "It is not enough to identify gene variants," and added, "If we can uncover what the variants actually do, we can benefit people who do not have them."
References
Genomic Psychiatry(2026), DOI: https://doi.org/10.61373/gp026v.0009