Eli5: If every living thing has DNA in its cells, and DNA contains the instructions for functions of life, why do our bodies NOT interact with the DNA that we consume from eating plants and animals?

Question

Eli5: If every living thing has DNA in its cells, and DNA contains the instructions for functions of life, why do our bodies NOT interact with the DNA that we consume from eating plants and animals?

In: 5

Answer 1

It does, but it’s mainly limited to digesting it and repurposing the nucleotides. In general DNA is only read inside the nucleus, so any free-floating scraps of DNA in the gut are extremely unlikely to start running code.