The Shroud of Turin bears DNA from many people, plants and animals
Researchers have identified genetic material from a vast range of organisms contaminating the shroud, said to have wrapped Jesus’s body, further complicating the question of the cloth’s true origin
The Shroud of Turin bears an image of a man said to resemble Jesus Christ
public domain/Art Collection 2/Alamy
DNA analysis has identified a vast array of animal, plant and human material contaminating the Shroud of Turin, complicating the story of the mysterious relic purported to be the cloth that Jesus Christ was wrapped in after his crucifixion 2000 years ago.
The shroud, which measures 4.4 metres long and 1.1 metres wide, is one of the world’s most famous and controversial Christian artefacts. Its first documented location was in France in 1354, and for nearly half a millennium, it has remained at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.
