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The Shroud of Turin Is Covered in Food and Animal DNA, New Study Finds

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15.07.2026

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The Shroud of Turin Is Covered in Food and Animal DNA, New Study Finds

Researchers found human, animal, and plant DNA on the famous relic, but the results do not prove where it came from or who it covered.

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According to a new study published in Scientific Reports, DNA evidence says the Shroud of Turin is covered in food and animal DNA, along with genetic traces from people whose ancestry spans different parts of the world. It’s news neither side of the centuries-old debate over Christianity’s most famous relic was hoping to hear, not that it will change many minds.

Generations of people have been confident that this simple piece of cloth was the burial shroud of Jesus. Some argue that it’s just some medieval fabrication or a random piece of fabric that took on an unearned religious significance. Regardless of what people believe about it, there are physical attributes of........

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