Fig. 1
From: Causal modeling in a multi-omic setting: insights from GAW20
Possible (nonexhaustive) causal structures of the GAW20 data. Directed acyclic graphs illustrating several causal scenarios possible in the GAW20 data: (a) and (b) represent direct effects of DNA sequence variation and DNA methylation on lipids, respectively; (c) represents a direct effect of lipids on DNA methylation; (d) and (e) represent full mediation scenarios, in which the effect of DNA sequence variation on lipids/DNA methylation occurs solely through DNA methylation/lipids, respectively; (f) shows confounding of the DNA methylation–lipids relationship by DNA sequence variation; (g) and (h) depict partial mediation scenarios, in which DNA sequence variation affects lipids/DNA methylation both directly and through DNA methylation/lipids, respectively