After analyzing more than 800 public small RNA-Seq datasets, we found the exogenous miRNAs (xenomiRs), e.g. plant derived miRNAs, detected in human samples are more likely to originate from technical artifacts rather than dietary intake. We also performed carefully designed and controlled animal feeding studies, in which we detected no transfer of plant miRNAs into rat blood, or bovine milk sequences into piglet blood.
Read the paper in RNA [Jan 2017].