Some readers of BioEdge have inquired about the success of the editor's six-week study tour, aka holiday, in the US. To be honest, very little of it was devoted directly to research in bioethics, although fiery discussions about Obamacare were frequent.

However, a very fruitful event was an invitation to the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University in Washington DC. As anyone interested in bioethics knows, or ought to know, Georgetown is where bioethics all began. Apparently the late Sargent Shriver coined the word one evening in 1970 in a discussion about the future of an institute to be founded at the university. Today the Institute claims to be the world’s oldest and most comprehensive academic bioethics center.

Dr Laura Bishop and her colleagues gave the editor a tour of the library's resources. He was convinced -- it certainly is a treasure for researchers, even on the internet. It is even possible to request a custom bibliography from the library's enormous collection of books, journals, reports and news clippings. The afternoon's hospitality culminated in a very cordial gathering over coffee. BioEdge awarded a blue ribbon on the spot to Dr Bishop for her teacake. So here's our advice: if you are visiting DC, drop in on the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. If you are very, very polite, perhaps you will score some of that scrumptious teacake.