The protocol
Seven controls to build an evidence profile.
Each control addresses a risk observed in real data. Together they show where the record is strong, where its scope needs clarification, and which check will produce the most information.
G1Species provenanceEach measurement carries a declared, verifiable species. Unreported origins are excluded, never imputed.On a reference human target, this control isolated 29.4% of measurements whose species could not be confirmed.
G2Independence must be established, not assumedTwo distinct documents are not sufficient to establish measurement independence, particularly when they report an identical value.The preprint studies value recurrence and document provenance; it does not establish a single causal mechanism.
G3Positive control declared for the target speciesThe reference control potency must be published for the species targeted by the claim, including its dispersion.Two standard sector controls are very weak inhibitors of the human enzyme.
G4At least one non-colorimetric readoutWithout an orthogonal readout, “it inhibits” cannot be distinguished from “it colors the assay.”All commercial kits for the target we studied are colorimetric.
G5Replicated ground truth—gradedStrict, quantified partial, or declared absent. Never all-or-nothing: requiring replication without grading it empties the record.In our own benchmark, 2.7% of molecules had a label confirmed by a second laboratory. This is the costly gate.
G6Freeze before resultsThresholds, exclusion criteria, and abstention rules are written, timestamped, and hashed before the first result is seen.This control has already detected and removed an artificially favorable result.
G7Relevance to the claimThe enzyme → cell → skin chain is made explicit, and missing links are named.A claim that skips a link is not necessarily false; it is indefensible when challenged.
An evidence record does not receive a single score; it receives a profile. An identified limitation does not invalidate the entire body of evidence. It clarifies the defensible scope of the claim and identifies the next useful action.