Answer
The mRNA-based technology Katalin Karikó developed formed the basis for two of the first vaccines to be approved for use in the United States against COVID-19: the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. These vaccines use mRNA to teach the body how to make a protein that is similar to the spike protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that causes COVID-19.