Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40042646›Full record

ArticleApplied microbiology and biotechnology2025

Methodology for the analysis of biological impurities associated with peri-eucharistic phenomena.

Tomasz Grzybowski, Marta Wrzosek, Włodzimierz Wołyniec, Agnieszka Hałoń, Ewa Chmielik, Marta Gorzkiewicz, Marcin Woźniak, Agnieszka Mikucka, Arleta Lebioda, Anna Jonkisz and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Applied microbiology and biotechnology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Carbapenem-ResistantAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Tomasz Grzybowski *Department of Forensic Medicine, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland. tgrzyb@cm.umk.pl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6228-6460
Marta Wrzosek *The University of Warsaw, Botanic Garden, Warsaw, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5871-5020
Włodzimierz WołyniecPontifical Faculty of Theology in Wroclaw, Wrocław, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5251-4076
Agnieszka HałońDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Pathology, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4240-7899
Ewa ChmielikMaria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology Gliwice Branch, Gliwice, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8316-0541
Marta GorzkiewiczDepartment of Forensic Medicine, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3402-5831
Marcin WoźniakDepartment of Forensic Medicine, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4491-3824
Agnieszka MikuckaDepartment of Microbiology, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9177-4922
Arleta LebiodaDepartment of Molecular Techniques, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5802-2155
Anna JonkiszDepartment of Molecular Techniques, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6916-4212
Małgorzata Małodobra-MazurDepartment of Molecular Techniques, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9864-5928
Beata BartnikDepartment of Molecular Techniques, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1579-7839
Tadeusz DoboszDepartment of Molecular Techniques, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0413-9109

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

One of the central dogmas of the Catholic Church is the belief in the Eucharistic presence of Jesus Christ, which requires no scientific confirmation because it concerns a supernatural reality. Since the early Middle Ages, however, instances have been recorded improperly referred to as Eucharistic miracles, which believers consider eyewitness testimony to a real transubstantiation. Changes in the structure, number, or an unexpected bloody red colour of the Host were often regarded as supernatural phenomena, but the Church officials themselves, aware of the possibility of a biological basis for these changes, showed far-reaching restraint. The author's team on the basis of analyses of 25 actual cases undertook to prepare research procedures that make it possible to separate phenomena that are difficult to interpret scientifically, from those associated with contamination. None of these cases revealed the actual proof of existence of human blood, human material other than single epidermal cells, and erythrocytes (probably very low-level contamination). In one case, insignificant amount of human male genetic material was observed, probably as a result of DNA transferred from a person to a host via contact with the host itself. In several specimens, a variety of microbial and fungal material was identified (Brevundimonas intermedia, Serratia marcescens, Epicoccum spp,. Fusarium spp.), including species producing reddish-pink or orange-reddish pigments (Epicoccum spp., Fusarium spp.). Based on the experience gained in this study, a complete procedure suitable for reliable examination of similar cases in the future is suggested. KEY POINTS: • The unusual appearance of the tested hosts can be explained by biological contamination. • Blood-like marks result from the presence of pigment-producing species. • A complete multidisciplinary procedure for investigating 'miracle cases' is proposed.

Indexed as

BacteriaCatholicismFungiHumansMaleCalcofluor whiteEpicoccum nigrumEucharistic miraclesFusarium sppSerratia marcescens

Identifiers

PMID40042646
PMCPMC11882681

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.