Claudia Vasallo

Abstract Complex traits arise from networks of coding and regulatory loci, making their genetic basis difficult to resolve. Macroevolutionary studies leverage millions of years of divergence across species to uncover fixed genomic changes invisible to within-species approaches like GWAS. Studying variation in mammals and primates offers insights into the evolution of complex traits and provides a complementary framework for generating hypotheses in biomedical research.

Keywords aging supercentenarian genetics epigenetics microbiome Introduction The indexed individual, from now on termed M116, was the world’s oldest verified living person from January 17th, 2023, until her passing on August 19th, 2024, reaching the age of 117 years and 168 days (https://www.grg-supercentenarians.org/wop/). She was a Caucasian woman born on March 4th, 1907, in San Francisco, USA, from Spanish parents and settled in Spain since she was 8.