What happened
Scientists applied PCR-free metagenomic sequencing to samples collected from the Shroud of Turin in 1978 and found DNA from humans, bacteria, fungi, plants, animals and Mediterranean red coral. The study appeared in Scientific Reports. It is the first time this technique has been applied to officially collected samples.
Why it matters
Metagenomic sequencing detects DNA from many species in a single sample, so it is useful for studying objects that have been handled and stored in changing environments. The international team says it has assembled the most complete picture so far of the biological traces accumulated on the cloth. It is not an analysis of its origin, but of its history of contact.
The number
Among the findings are several lineages of human mitochondrial DNA, indicating that genetic material from different populations has accumulated on the linen.
Context
Mitochondrial DNA is inherited through the maternal line and is therefore used to study ancestry and populations. The researchers also found a diverse microbiome: bacteria common on human skin, fungi and microorganisms adapted to salty environments, including archaea, which can live in high-salt conditions. Added to this are genetic traces from numerous plants. Together, the data show a complicated biological record formed by repeated human contact and exposure to different environments. On related topics, Mamífero published Lake Pavin bacteria leave chemical traces in magnetite; With no stone to knap, humans avoided the Rub’ al Khali; Shamonda, the first human case of the livestock virus and Sonnen files for insolvency in Germany.
What’s next
The authors cannot separate which traces arrived at each stage; that would need comparisons with reference samples and dating of the layers. The study does not settle the arguments about the age of the cloth.
Bottom line
The value of the work lies in the method: reading an object’s history through all the DNA it has accumulated.
Sources
- ScienceDaily, summary of the study published in Scientific Reports (accessed November 9, 2026).
- Cover image: Linda Bartlett (Photographer), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Edited by Rodrigo Cornejo. How we select and verify: who writes these notes.
