A new genetic study of the Shroud of Turin has found human DNA lines found in the Middle East, as well as microorganisms characteristic of highly saline environments. The results add new data to the long-standing scientific debate over the relic, but according to the researchers themselves they do not prove that the cloth was the burial shroud of Jesus Christ.
The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth about 4.4 meters long, on which is seen an image of a man with scars traditionally associated with a crucifixion. The relic is kept in the Cathedral of “St. John the Baptist“ in Turin, Italy.
The findings
In the new study, Italian scientists analyzed fibers taken from different parts of the shroud in 1978. The team used modern genetic sequencing technologies that allow the simultaneous examination of millions of DNA fragments.
The study, led by geneticist Prof. Gianni Barcaccia of the University of Padua, was published in July 2026 in Scientific Reports and builds on a previous DNA analysis from 2015.
Among the human genetic lineages discovered is the rare mitochondrial lineage H33, which is found today among Middle Eastern populations, including the Druze in the Levant, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
However, this does not indicate when the DNA got on the cloth. The Shroud of Turin has been touched and moved many times over the centuries, making it extremely difficult to distinguish ancient genetic material from later contamination.
The scientists found a clear example of this problem. In three samples, a mitochondrial lineage that is also common among Ashkenazi Jews dominates. However, the same genetic variant belongs to Professor Pierluigi Baima Bolone, who was involved in taking the samples in 1978. According to the team, this indicates that some human DNA may have been introduced into the material during its modern processing.
The scientists also found archaea adapted to life in high salt concentrations. They suggest that at some point the canvas or linen from which it was made may have been exposed to a highly saline or brackish environment.
This has led to speculation of a possible connection to the Dead Sea region, but the data do not allow such a location to be established.
The species Debaryomyces hansenii, a fungus that can live in highly saline conditions but is also found in foods such as cheese, was also found. Therefore, its presence does not indicate a specific geographical origin.
DNA reveals centuries of contamination
The analysis identified bacteria from human skin, fungi, plants, animals and other biological traces. The genetic material is linked to broad regions, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the Americas.
Particularly significant is the presence of plants that cannot be linked to 1st-century Judea. Traces of maize, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and peanuts have been found, crops that reached Europe from the Americas after the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
A strong plant signal also comes from carrots, which resemble European varieties that spread in the 15th and 16th centuries. According to scientists, these results show that much of the biological material accumulated on the shroud in later centuries.
The mystery of the age remains
The most famous scientific dating of the Shroud of Turin was carried out in 1988. Radiocarbon analyses then placed the origin of the studied material in the Middle Ages. These results continue to be disputed by some researchers, including with arguments about contamination and possible later repairs to the cloth.
The historical origin also remains unclear. The first reliably documented public appearance of the shroud was in the French village of Liray in the 14th century, when it was exhibited by the knight Geoffroy de Charny. It is not known where he obtained the relic.
The new genetic analysis does not resolve this dispute. The authors emphasize that the DNA and microorganisms found cannot determine whether the Shroud of Turin is around 2,000 years old or was created in the Middle Ages, nor can they establish that it once wrapped the body of Jesus Christ.
The results rather show how complex the history of the cloth is: biological traces from numerous people, places and periods have accumulated on it, making separating the original material from centuries of subsequent contamination extremely difficult.