People in Brazil are living past 110 and scientists want to know why
Scientists are uncovering why Brazil may be one of the most important yet underused resources for studying extreme longevity. Its highly diverse population harbors millions of genetic variants missing from standard datasets, including rare changes linked to immune strength and cellular maintenance. Brazilian supercentenarians often remain mentally sharp, survive serious infections, and come from families where multiple members live past 100. Together, they reveal aging not as inevitable decline, but as a form of biological resilience.
A Viewpoint published on January 6 in Genomic Psychiatry by Dr. Mayana Zatz and colleagues at the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center at the University of São Paulo explores why Brazil may be one of the most important yet overlooked settings for studying extreme human longevity. The authors combine insights from their long-running national study of exceptionally long-lived individuals with recent discoveries in supercentenarian biology to explain why Brazil offers unique scientific opportunities.
Why do a small number of people live beyond 110 years while most never reach 100? Scientists have pursued this question for decades, but clear answers remain scarce. According to Dr. Zatz and her co-authors, part of the problem lies in the narrow focus of existing research. Many large genomic databases are dominated by relatively homogeneous populations, leaving major gaps when it comes to admixed groups.
"This gap is especially limiting in longevity research, where admixed supercentenarians may harbor unique protective variants invisible in more genetically homogeneous populations," explains Mateus Vidigal de Castro, first author of the Viewpoint and researcher at the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center.
Brazil's Unmatched Genetic Diversity
Brazil's population history sets it apart from nearly every other country. Portuguese colonization beginning in 1500, the forced migration of roughly 4 million enslaved Africans, and later waves of European and Japanese immigration produced what the authors describe as the richest genetic diversity in the world.
Early genomic research involving more than 1000 Brazilians over age 60 uncovered around 2 million previously unknown genetic variants. Among older Brazilians alone, researchers identified more than 2,000 mobile element insertions and over 140 HLA alleles missing from global genomic databases. A later study expanded this picture further, reporting more than 8 million undescribed genetic variants across the Brazilian population, including over 36,000 thought to be potentially harmful.
An Extraordinary Group of the World's Oldest People
The research team has built a rare and valuable cohort. Their ongoing longitudinal study includes more than 160 centenarians, among them 20 validated supercentenarians, drawn from diverse regions of Brazil with wide-ranging social, cultural, and environmental backgrounds. Participants included Sister Inah, who was recognized as the world's oldest living person until her death on 30 April 2025 at age 116.
The cohort also included the two oldest men in the world. One passed away last November at age 112, while the other is currently 113 years old.
Longevity Beyond Medical Access
What makes this group especially informative is not just their age. When researchers first contacted them, several Brazilian supercentenarians were still mentally sharp and able to manage basic daily tasks on their own. Many spent most of their lives in underserved areas with little access to modern healthcare. This allows scientists to study biological resilience that developed largely without medical intervention.