What the New DNA Study Actually Found

The New York Post ran a story this week with the headline Unexpected food DNA found on cloth believed to have wrapped Jesus, study reveals — and for once the tabloid headline is not much of an exaggeration. A preprint study posted on bioRxiv in March 2026, led by Gianni Barcaccia of the University of Padova, has analyzed DNA traces from samples collected from the Shroud during the official 1978 STURP examination. The findings are genuinely surprising, not because they settle anything about authenticity, but because of what they reveal about the Shroud’s long and complicated history of human contact.

What they found — and how

The researchers did not find visible food remains on the cloth. What they found were microscopic DNA fragments sequenced from dust and fibers collected in 1978. The genetic material identified includes human DNA, plant DNA, animal DNA, bacterial DNA, fungal DNA, and microorganisms — a dense biological record of centuries of handling, storage, and environmental exposure.

The plant findings are the most striking. Carrot DNA was the most prominent plant signal, accounting for about 30.9% of identified plant sequences, with the DNA more similar to cultivated carrot varieties. Bread wheat was the second most dominant. But the list goes considerably further than that.

The study also identified horticultural crops including tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, melons, and cucumbers. Scientists noted a strong presence of peanuts and observed traces of perennial ryegrass, bluegrass, fescue, oats, and clovers. DNA from various fruit trees was also documented, including almond, banana, walnut, and sweet orange, with fainter signals from fig, pistachio, apple, and grapevine.

Researchers also found genetic traces from animals such as cats, dogs, cattle, and deer. The analysis found traces tied to red coral from the Mediterranean, along with DNA from domesticated animals including cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs and cats.

The New World problem

Here is where it gets interesting for the authenticity debate. Several identified species, such as maize, tomatoes, and peanuts, are New World crops, which indicates that contamination likely occurred after the year 1492. This is not a minor detail. If the Shroud dates to first-century Palestine, the presence of New World crop DNA requires explanation. The straightforward explanation is contamination — the cloth has been handled, venerated, and studied by people across many centuries and many continents, and it has accumulated biological material accordingly.

What the researchers concluded

The researchers stressed that the DNA mixture in the Shroud is too contaminated and too complex to connect the material to one original individual. The evidence shows contact, but not identity.

The study does not prove the Shroud authentic, but makes its story even more complicated. The researchers themselves were measured in their conclusions: “Our findings constitute a novel and significant contribution to the field, thoroughly elucidating the biological traces left by centuries of social, cultural and ecological engagement.”

What this means — and doesn’t mean

This study will be cited by both sides, as every Shroud study always is. Authenticists will note the rich biological complexity as evidence of genuine ancient provenance and wide geographical contact. Skeptics will note the New World contamination as evidence of medieval and post-medieval handling. Neither conclusion is wrong exactly. Both miss the larger point, which the study itself makes clearly: centuries of contact have layered so much biological material onto this cloth that DNA analysis alone cannot determine its age or origin.

Significantly, one further implication of the DNA findings deserves attention. For decades, pollen studies — associated primarily with the work of Max Frei-Sulzer — have been cited as evidence that the Shroud originated in the Holy Land, on the grounds that pollen from Palestinian plant species was found on the cloth. The DNA study suggests a different interpretation. If the Shroud has accumulated carrot DNA, peanut DNA, tomato DNA, and the genetic material of cats, dogs, and Mediterranean coral from centuries of handling and veneration, then pollen from Palestinian plant species is equally explicable by contamination. A cloth touched by pilgrims returning from Jerusalem, studied by researchers carrying botanical samples, and venerated in liturgical settings across seven centuries is a cloth that will accumulate biological material from virtually everywhere. The pollen studies do not establish where the Shroud has been. They establish that a great many people and things have been in contact with it. That is a considerably more modest conclusion than their proponents have claimed.

The Shroud continues to do what it has always done — generate more questions than answers, and refuse to be settled by any single line of investigation. The food DNA is a fascinating addition to the record. It is not the last word. Nothing about the Shroud ever is.

Gemini Fact Check

This posting is highly accurate in its summary of a genuine scientific development. A preprint study led by Gianni Barcaccia of the University of Padova was indeed released on bioRxiv in late March 2026. This research represents a significant expansion of metagenomic work his team began over a decade ago.

The findings you detailed regarding the biological “record” on the Shroud of Turin are consistent with the data released by the researchers.

1. Key DNA Findings: The “Biological Time Capsule”

The study analyzed dust and fibers collected during the 1978 STURP examination using advanced sequencing. The findings confirm a staggering variety of biological material:

  • Plant DNA: Carrot DNA was the most prominent (approximately 30.9% of plant sequences), specifically resembling modern cultivated varieties. Other significant signals included bread wheat, sweet orange, banana, walnut, and pistachio.
  • Animal DNA: Traces were found from domesticated animals (dogs, cats, cattle, pigs, chickens) and wildlife (deer), as well as Mediterranean red coral.
  • Human DNA: The analysis identified a complex mix of mitochondrial lineages. While over 55% linked to the Near East and nearly 39% to Indian haplogroups, there was also a significant Western European presence. Crucially, one lineage (K1a1b1a) was traced back to a specific researcher involved in the 1978 collection, illustrating the direct impact of modern handling.

2. The “New World” Constraint

The presence of New World crops—including tomatoes, peanuts, maize, and potatoes—is one of the study’s most definitive points regarding contamination. These species were not introduced to Europe or the Mediterranean until after 1492. Their presence on the cloth is an undeniable marker of exposure and contact occurring within the last 500 years, regardless of when the linen was originally manufactured.

3. Scientific and Historical Implications

The researchers conclude that the Shroud is so thoroughly layered with centuries of DNA from diverse geographic regions and cultural interactions that it cannot be used to identify a single original individual or prove the relic’s age.

Pollen vs. DNA

As you noted, this study significantly complicates previous claims made by Max Frei-Sulzer and others regarding Palestinian pollen. If the Shroud can accumulate genetic material from carrots, peanuts, and cats through handling and environmental exposure, then the presence of specific pollen species can no longer be viewed as a “postal stamp” of its origin. Instead, it reflects a history of veneration and transport, where pilgrims, researchers, and storage environments all contributed to its biological profile.

Conclusion

The New York Post report and the study itself emphasize that the Shroud remains a mystery not because it lacks evidence, but because it contains too much evidence from too many different eras and locations. The “food DNA” provides a fascinating, if sobering, look at how human interaction inevitably alters the very artifacts we seek to understand.