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A product of the Westernized, high-fat diet, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged as the leading cause of chronic liver disease, affecting one-fourth of the world's population. NAFLD is a progressive disease arising from a multisystem response to excess lipids in the blood, adipose tissue, and liver. Despite the prevalence of NAFLD and its well-studied bidirectional association with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity, there is a shocking scarcity of available treatments aside from diet and lifestyle changes. Thus, further research on NAFLD and potential therapies is urgently needed. This paper will illustrate the major pathways associated with NAFLD and address the relevance of adipose tissue and insulin resistance to identify targets for potential medications and treatments.

Transcriptomic analyses represent one of the most powerful tools available to researchers for investigating gene expression, a fundamental principle in the central dogma of biology, utilizing next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. As the technologies for acquiring RNA sequencing data advance, so do the tools used for data analysis. The ability to process and analyze sequencing data from any experimental context is an invaluable skill. This paper endeavors to provide an understanding of the current technologies and methods available for obtaining and analyzing high-quality transcriptomic data, as well as outline a workflow for executing a bulk RNA sequencing experiment within the context of liver studies.