‘Nothing Else Matters!’ CNN’s John Berman Goes Nuts After Man Gets a New Heart from a Pig

CNN’s John Berman marveled at the wonders of modern medicine while reacting to the news that a man received a heart that came from a pig in a successful transplant.

On Tuesday, Berman used part of New Day to focus on the story of David Bennett, a Maryland man with terminal heart disease who underwent an experimental procedure to receive the heart of a genetically modified pig. CNN’s reporting states that Bennett was ineligible for a conventional heart transplant or an artificial heart pump after his medical records showed he was too sick to qualify, but he decided to take a chance on the surgery, and the FDA granted emergency authorization to make it happen.

While Bennett’s long-term prognosis isn’t clear, his body’s immune system hasn’t rejected the transplant yet, and the heart appears to be working. As Berman spoke about all of this with Dr. Jonathan Reiner, he hailed it as a miracle of science as he exclaimed “When I read the headline ‘A pig art in a human being,’ I’m like, nothing else matters. This is everything that matters today. How big of a deal with this?”

Reiner explained that the surgery could hold major implications for people waiting for organ transplants.

“This is sort of proof of concept, or at least, the initial steps towards proving, that you can modify an animal’s organs to make it suitable for transplantation in a human,” Reiner said. “It’s really a remarkable bioengineering feat.”

Reiner went on by delving into the science of making the pig heart genetically suitable so that it could be transplanted into a human while maintaining blood flow, avoiding rejection, and preventing the transmission of diseases from the pig. Since Bennett has had the heart for 4 days, Berman figured that’s a “good sign” as he once again called the story “absolutely fascinating.”

Watch above, via CNN.