Tiffany Sato investigated whether asparagus can inhibit the growth of yeast cells. She used yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as a model organism to study the anti-proliferative effects of asparagus due to similarities between yeast and cancer cells. Yeast was grown in media containing asparagus extract, a control lacking nutrients, and a positive control with nutrients. Growth was measured using absorbance and colony counts. Absorbance was lowest in asparagus media, indicating decreased growth. Colony counts also showed fewer colonies with asparagus, supporting the hypothesis that asparagus inhibits yeast cell proliferation.