Researchers analyzing more than 160 centenarians in Brazil—including 20 supercentenarians—argue that the country’s high genetic admixture may reveal protective variants linked to exceptional longevity. The cohort includes remarkable familial clusters and individuals who remained lucid and independent, and three supercentenarians who survived COVID-19 in 2020. The authors call for broader inclusion of ancestrally diverse populations in international genomics and longevity research to improve scientific insight and global equity.
What Brazil’s Longest-Lived People Can Teach Us About Human Longevity
elderly person's hand being held by a younger person
No one can avoid death forever, yet a small number of people live well beyond the average human lifespan. Researchers studying centenarians and supercentenarians in Brazil argue that this country’s exceptional genetic diversity could reveal overlooked clues about what protects people from age-related decline.
Why Brazil Matters
Although Brazil’s average life expectancy does not match countries often associated with longevity, such as Japan or Italy, the nation hosts a substantial number of centenarians. In a new viewpoint published in Genomic Psychiatry, Mateus Vidigal de Castro and colleagues summarize findings from their longitudinal study and explain why Brazil’s admixed population is scientifically valuable.
Genetic Diversity and Research Gaps
Much previous longevity genomics work has depended on relatively homogeneous populations. Brazil’s population, shaped by Indigenous peoples, Portuguese colonization, enslaved Africans and later immigration from Europe, Japan and elsewhere, is highly admixed. The authors argue that protective genetic variants may be present in such populations but invisible in more uniform datasets.
Brazil has one of the world's most diverse populations. (andreswd/Getty Images/Canva)
“This gap is especially limiting in longevity research, where admixed supercentenarians may harbor unique protective variants invisible in more genetically homogeneous populations,”
— Mateus Vidigal de Castro
The Brazilian Cohort
The research team recruited participants from across Brazil and formed a cohort of more than 160 centenarians, including 20 supercentenarians. Notable individuals include Inah Canabarro Lucas, a nun who was recognized as the world’s oldest living person and died in 2025 at age 116. The cohort also includes two of the world’s oldest men, one reported to be 113.
Many participants not only reached extreme ages but retained surprising independence and cognitive clarity. At the time of assessment, some supercentenarians were lucid and able to perform basic daily activities such as feeding themselves.
Familial Clusters and Protective Traits
The cohort contains rare familial clusters, such as a family with a 110-year-old woman and three nieces aged 106, 104 and 100. These clusters offer an opportunity to distinguish genetic, epigenetic and environmental contributors to resilience and exceptional longevity.
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“Investigating such rare familial clusters offers a window into the polygenic inheritance of resilience and may help disentangle the genetic and epigenetic contributions to extreme longevity,”
— Mateus Vidigal de Castro
Beyond Genes: Immunity, Lifestyle and Environment
The authors emphasize that genes are only part of the story. Many centenarians in the cohort come from underserved regions with limited access to advanced medical care, implying that lifestyle, environment and robust biological systems—especially youthful immune function and preserved proteostasis—play important roles. For example, three Brazilian supercentenarians survived COVID-19 in 2020 before vaccines were available, a resilience the researchers link to strong immune responses.
Call to Action
Co-author Mayana Zatz urges international consortia to broaden recruitment to ancestrally diverse and admixed populations or to fund studies that increase representation. Greater inclusion would deepen scientific insight into longevity and improve equity in global health research.
“International longevity and genomics consortia should expand recruitment to include ancestrally diverse and admixed populations, such as Brazil’s, or provide financial support for genomic, immunological and longitudinal studies that deepen scientific insight and enhance equity in global health research,”
— Mayana Zatz
Study type: Viewpoint and ongoing longitudinal cohort study (published in Genomic Psychiatry).
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