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The antigens don't match on DNA segments. They match on proteins that the virus has on it. The mRNA sequence is specific to produce that very particular pattern. Not a wildcard.

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To be extra clear, antigens match on the physical shape of the proteins resulting from the mRNA programming.

They have no way to access the underlying DNA.

And proteins have two major parts; the sequence of amino acids that they’re composed of, and how they’re folded. This folding detail is no small thing, as proteins don’t do the right thing when they’re folded wrong.

And then there's a fourth stage, where different proteins come together to from a complex.

The BioNtech-Vaccine accounts for this afaik, to prevent the spike-proteins from clumping.

Actually, my understanding [1] is that the spike proteins are expected to come together to form a full spike, and that this is what the antibodies match off of.

So, even further from regex. The RNA gets turned into a sequence of amino acids, which folds in an extremely complex 3D shape, which bind together with two other proteins to form a large structure, the full shape of which is matched by antibodies.

1. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/health/pfizer-biont...

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