What Happens To DNA In Blood When You Donate It?
| Updated: 10 Feb 2026
What happens to DNA in blood when it goes into someone else? Here's the answer.
Question?
What happens to DNA in blood when it goes into someone else? Ricardo, Swansea
Answer **Definitive**
Name: Professor Howe, Birmingham
Qualification: Professor in public understanding in science
Answer: Red blood cells don’t have any DNA because they don’t have a nucleus in order so that they can carry more oxygen. White blood cells however do have a nucleus, but they last for about a day, so it might be possible to find some DNA of a donor for a very short amount of time.