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

Our bodies read and react to DNA within our individual cells. DNA isn’t just freely floating around in the body – it is contained within each cell. It can’t get into the cell.

So if somehow any of it slips pst our digestive system, it would still just be circulating in the blood waiting to be removed by the body.