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You do not need to know every implementation detail down the stack, just the the general concepts behind it all. But in case you do need to know a specific part of the stack very thoroughly, you can just read the source code and come up with an understanding quite soon.

That is not the case with biology, if you want to know a part of the stack thoroughly, you in essence have to come up with the "source code" your self.

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> just read the source code

That's the problem though - code is not enough for understanding. Very well-written and documented code can be, but it's not a given. And the complexity grows exponentially the more of the code there's.

Unfortunately, many managers think the way you describe, while discounting the intangible knowledge that's only in the heads of engineers, and leaves with them. So they treat engineers as disposable units while thinking that possession of the code will guarantee transfer of knowledge.

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