Recent experiments on low-energy electron attachment to DNA and its components in the condensed phase and in the gas phase are reviewed and analyzed. Gas-phase experiments indicate that all building blocks of DNA undergo resonant dissociative electron attachment in the subexcitation regime (< 3 eV). From the study on an entire nucleotide, it can be concluded that most strand breaks result from direct electron attachment to the DNA backbone but also a mechanism involving electron transfer contributes, that is, initial electron capture by the nucleobase following electron transfer to the backbone.