[ahrazzle]

Purpose

Compile the requested plain-language Virtual Human/Asma explanation into a public, grounded starting point for contributors.

Changes

• Add docs/research-foundation.md: four map analogies, evidence-map boundaries, exact synthetic order example, links to existing Asma evidence and sequence work, current/open/proposed capability inventory, and a bounded research workflow.
• Add docs/research-question-template.md to record questions, evidence/context, competing assumptions, missing measurements, independent checks and stop rules.
• Link both from README.

This is documentation only. No engines, data, dependencies, workflows or Asma files change. Public evidence and synthetic fixtures only; no private records. Existing SBML PR #4 stays separate. Main/Asma snapshot revisions and source links are recorded. No formal proof, clinical validation, new experiment or clinical deployment is claimed.

Verification

• Independent internal documentation review: no blocking findings; clarified that omitted query context does not generalize evidence. Internal review is not external scientific validation or a GitHub approval.
• All relative document links resolve; pinned Asma source URLs read back successfully.
• Embedded exact Fraction example passed; existing reaction API reproduced the two zero-duration half-retention operations (100 -> 50 -> 25).
• git diff --check: passed.
• Focused tests: python -m pytest -q tests/test_model_contracts.py tests/test_reaction_experiments.py tests/test_graph_clearance.py tests/test_ovarian_parameter_ledger.py -m 'not network': 122 passed, 1 deselected (Python 3.12, pytest 9.2.0, NumPy 2.5.4, SciPy 1.18.1).
• node web/test_engines.mjs: passed against checked-in fixtures.
• Full Python suite, regenerated web fixtures, Crossref network test and optional Asma bridge were not rerun for this docs-only change. No new claim about full-suite or clinical correctness.

Draft for collaborator review. No merge or deployment performed.

[ahrazzle]

Verification update: GitHub Actions run 42104088603 completed successfully for exact head b583095939814851661c740d3736570f163f75d3. The offline ledger check, full Python test command (pytest -q -m "not network"), regenerated engine references and JavaScript engine checks all passed in CI. This supplements the focused local checks documented above; it is software verification, not scientific or clinical validation. The three published files were also read back and matched the reviewed content exactly. PR remains a draft for collaborator review; no merge performed.