DNA is a code

DNA is a code. The four bases (A, T, C, G) function as discrete symbols arranged in specific sequences that carry instructions. Those sequences are read, transcribed, and translated according to a mapping ruleset (the genetic code) that is itself arbitrary with respect to the chemistry. The chemistry makes the system possible; it does not dictate what the sequences mean.
Morse code works the same way. Dots and dashes are just timed electrical pulses or audio tones. The physical events are “just beeping.” The meaning exists only because an agreed-upon coding system maps those patterns onto letters and words. Remove the coding convention and you’re left with noise.
Calling DNA “just chemistry” or “just chemical reactions” is therefore equivalent to calling Morse code “just beeping.” It describes the substrate while ignoring the informational layer that makes the system functional. The chemistry is necessary but not sufficient to explain the presence of functional, sequence-specific information.
This is why the distinction between chemistry and information is central in origin-of-life discussions. Random chemical processes readily produce molecules. They do not readily produce large amounts of specified information that maps onto functional outcomes according to an independent coding system.