Supercentenarian gives scientists insight on secrets of healthy old age

A number of biological factors protected Maria Branyas Morera from the diseases that normally plague the final years of life. Photograph: Guinness world records

The nonagenarian actor Dame Joan Collins may have been on to something when she declared “age is just a number”.

The deepest dive yet into the biology of a supercentenarian has revealed that even extreme old age can be reached without the brain necessarily faltering or the usual illnesses mounting up.