A methionine-choline deficient (MCD) diet was fed to wild type (WT) and BACH1(−/−) mice and the WT mice were shown to develop evident hepatic steatosis with a six-fold increase in hepatic triglyceride content; however, BACH1(−/−) mice exhibited negligible hepatic steatosis. The gene discussed is BACH1; the disease is Hepatic steatosis.