The DNA of God

Book excerpt: In 1988, radiocarbon dating showed that the Shroud of Turin--long regarded as the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth--could not be from the time of Jesus but was of a more recent origin. What scientists did not know at that time, but what author Dr. Leoncio Garza-Valdes came to discover, is that bacteria produce an organic coating (what he calls a "bioplastic coating") over time on ancient textiles, textiles including the Shroud itself. This coating, which the author first discovered on Mayan artifacts, so distorts the carbon dating process that objects on which it is found (such as the Shroud) are actually significantly older than the data show. The scientific community has hailed Dr. Garza-Valdes's findings since this new knowledge is of significance for archaeologists around the world. For those interested in the mysterious history of the Shroud, it is again possible to regard this artifact as originating in the first century--and consequently as being the burial cloth of Jesus. But Dr. Garza-Valdes's amazing discoveries did not end with this breakthrough. His examination of pieces of the Shroud under a microscope has revealed incredible clues consistent with the Scriptural accounts of the death of Jesus. Bacteria that produce acetic acid (vinegar) were isolated from the Shroud. Do they belong to the vinegar offered to Jesus before his death on the cross? Could human blood remnants that contain a man's DNA be traces of the blood of Jesus? Does it contain the DNA of God? The DNA of God? is the fascinating story of this microbiologist's journey of discovery and of the earthshaking secrets he has revealed about the Shroud of Turin.