Hello community!
One of the commonly used methods in this field is to test the association of each feature separately, using packages such as Maaslin2 and ANCOM-BC (which was recently added thanks to @lizgehret!). These packages enable the modeling of independent variables and testing each feature as the dependent variable. For example, if there are variables of weight, sex, and bacterial features, using Maaslin2/ANCOM-BC (as well as other packages and approaches), one can test the dependence of bacterial features on weight and sex (or their interaction, etc.).
However, an alternative approach could be to consider the features as an independent variable. For e.g., the formula could look like: feature + sex ~ weight, testing each feature.
Are there any packages or ideas for performing this type of analysis? (Using a simple example here, of course.)