No, the manual contains instructions, and here's how I know:
It was the intent of the writers of the manual to include instructions (this I know from the definition of "manual"); and, as a speaker of English, I can verify personally that the arrangement of text explains to me how to program the VCR.
Now, the manual doesn't program the VCR for me, and neither does it compel me to program it.
Instructions are messages from one person to another that explain how do accomplish a task in steps. If there's "instructions" in DNA, then who put them there?