Shroud of Turin DNA Reveals Centuries of Handling

The Shroud of Turin is a linen sheet measuring about 4.4 metres in length, bearing a faint image of a man, seen from the front and back, who seems to have been crucified. Millions of people believe it once covered Jesus’s body.

DNA deposited on the fabric indicated that the most prominent human trace came from a scientist who examined it in 1978.

Researchers led by Gianni Barcaccia sequenced genetic material from official Shroud samples collected almost 50 years ago. Their study was published in Scientific Reports.

Rather than using the previous approach of copying and targeting selected DNA, the team applied a method that reads all DNA present without first isolating particular sequences.

Collector’s DNA dominated the samples

Three samples produced clear human genetic profiles with high confidence. Each of them led to the same individual.

A kinship assessment linked the profiles to the late Pierluigi Baima Bollone, the University of Turin professor of forensic medicine who gathered the samples in 1978. The result was sufficiently close to indicate either Baima Bollone himself or a first-degree relative.

Baima Bollone was a co-author of the paper. He died in Turin in November 2025, several months before its publication.

His mitochondrial lineage, K1a1b1a - a branch most frequently found among Ashkenazi Jews - appeared repeatedly. This recurrence offers a straightforward illustration of how extensively one person’s DNA can cover an object they handle regularly.

How many people handled the Shroud of Turin?

Less prominent human lineages were also identified. One is now uncommon and is found chiefly among Near Eastern populations, including the Druze.

The textile additionally contained an unusually large number of mixed mitochondrial signals, the sort that accumulate when a surface has been touched by many people.

The authors interpret this as evidence of contact with multiple individuals, making the recovery of any one original DNA profile almost impossible.

A separate protein study reached a similar conclusion. It detected no ancient proteins, finding only skin keratins, which the researchers regarded as evidence of intensive handling rather than great age.

Microbes trace centuries of handling

The bacterial findings resembled a survey of human skin. Cutibacterium and Staphylococcus, microbes commonly found on faces and hands, were present throughout the samples.

The archaea suggested a more saline history. Most came from a group able to survive only in highly salty environments, consistent either with storage in brine or with the historic practice of soaking flax in salt water to loosen its fibres.

One yeast species stood out. It is normally associated with cheese rinds and briny water, and the researchers say they cannot fully explain its presence.

A fungus associated with skin and scalps occurred in every sample. It provides another indication of repeated human contact with the cloth.

Plant DNA points towards Europe

The plant DNA proved more unusual than the human material. By a substantial margin, carrot was the most frequently detected species.

Carrot accounted for almost one third of the plant signal, while its DNA also offered a chronological clue. The material most closely resembled orange carrot varieties bred in Western Europe during the 1400s and 1500s.

This suggests contamination dating no earlier than the late Middle Ages, involving European plant matter rather than plants cultivated in the Holy Land. Bread wheat ranked second, making up roughly one ninth of the plant reads.

Next were crops that could not have existed at such an early date. Maize, peanuts, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes all originated in the Americas and were unknown in the Old World before Columbus - a genuine puzzle, the authors say, for a cloth said to be 2,000 years old.

Animal DNA indicates Mediterranean connections

Animal DNA added to the Mediterranean picture. Red coral represented the biggest single proportion; this species occurs only in the Mediterranean Sea and has long been valued for jewellery and folk medicine.

Cats and dogs followed, with each contributing about a fifth of animal reads. Chickens, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses came after them, reflecting the familiar animals of farms and rural communities.

Smaller traces included brown rats, mice and skin mites of the type that inhabit human faces. Taken together, the mixture suggests Mediterranean and European links rather than an ancient Near Eastern origin.

DNA cannot establish the Shroud’s date

Despite the level of detail, genetic evidence cannot resolve the central question. The researchers clearly state that this form of analysis provides no conclusive evidence either for a Medieval origin or for one dating back 2,000 years.

Reference databases are one constraint. The plant comparison used 126 species, while much of the recovered DNA was too fragmented to be assigned accurately.

Earlier radiocarbon testing, undertaken in 1988, dated the linen itself to 1260–1390, producing a Medieval date that advocates of an older origin continue to challenge on statistical grounds.

The team was able to date one aspect: repair work. Radiocarbon testing of two threads from the box in which the Shroud was kept corresponds with the 1532 fire and repairs made in 1534 and 1694, all of which are well documented.

Shroud of Turin retains biological history

“The Shroud of Turin continues to fascinate historians, scientists and the public, and we’re thrilled to reveal new information about the biological complexity preserved within samples collected almost 50 years ago by applying new cutting-edge forensic DNA technologies,” says Noemi Procopio, a professor of forensic science at the University of Lancashire.

“The Shroud represents a rich archive of genetic information that has accumulated over centuries of human interaction and environmental exposure,” Procopio says.

“While the DNA evidence cannot answer all the questions about the age or authenticity of the cloth, it provides novel insights into its biological history and demonstrates how advances in forensic science can unlock new information from historical artifacts.”

The research received funding through university and research-council grants, and its authors declared no competing interests.