Finally! After a lot of work Kevin’s paper Spatial biology of Ising-like synthetic genetic network in BMC Biology!

Bi-stable (2-state) synthetic genetic networks running on round E. coli cells are coupled to other neighboring cells in a quasi-2D colony growing on agar using quorum sensing auto-inducer molecules. Left, you see bacterial colonies and on the right we see the Contact Process Ising Model (CPIM), a model of our exsperimental system. Top, Ferromagnetic interactions and Bottom Anti-Ferromagnetic .