Shroud of Turin DNA study finds Near Eastern link but cannot prove Jesus connection

A new DNA study of the Shroud of Turin has detected a rare Near Eastern genetic lineage and salt-loving microorganisms on the cloth, though researchers say it cannot prove the linen covered Jesus, the Daily Mail reports.

The study, published in Scientific Reports on July 9, was led by Dr Gianni Barcaccia, a genetics professor at the University of Padua. His team used next-generation sequencing on 12 samples taken from the cloth in 1978 and left out of their 2015 analysis.

They identified the rare H33 lineage, found mainly among the Druze people of the Holy Land, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The microorganisms suggest the linen may have been stored or processed in a saline environment. Vatican News said the findings “seem to confirm” a stay in the Middle East, adding to evidence supporting the Shroud’s authenticity.

The researchers, however, also found extensive modern contamination. A maternal lineage dominant in three samples matched Professor Pierluigi Baima Bollone, who collected them in 1978, while common skin bacteria pointed to repeated handling by many people.

The samples also held traces of maize, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and peanuts, crops that reached Europe only after Columbus, alongside carrots resembling 15th- and 16th-century European varieties. No plant exclusive to the Levant was found.

The team concluded the evidence cannot establish whether the Shroud is medieval or about 2,000 years old. Radiocarbon dating in the 1980s pointed to a medieval origin, and the cloth’s first documented display was in Lirey, France, in the 1350s, leaving its true origin unsettled.