On October 10, 2025, Guangzhou, the 4th China-Denmark Symposium on Electromicrobiology (CDEM 2025) (Symposium on Application Prospects of Electromicrobial Intelligent Manufacturing) was successfully convened in Guangzhou. The symposium was jointly hosted by the Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, the Center for Electromicrobiology, Aarhus University, the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center, Aarhus University, and the Sino-Danish International Research Center for Electromicrobiology, and co-organized by the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Culture Collection and Application, the Guangdong Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Microbiology and Regional Ecological Safety, and the Guangdong Biotechnology Industrialization Promotional Council. The event attracted over 100 participants, including experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from both China and Denmark. Distinguished leaders delivering addresses at the opening ceremony included Mr. Fuxiang He, former Science and Technology Counsellor of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Kingdom of Denmark; Ms. Huifang Yang, Level II Bureau Rank Official of the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province; Ms. Chun Qian, Level II Bureau Rank Official of the Guangdong Association for Science and Technology; Mr. Ming Xie, Director of the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau; Mr. Weimin Chen, President of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences; and Prof. Guoping Zhao, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), CAS center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences. In their addresses, the leaders highlighted that the science and technology cooperation has achieved concrete, mutually beneficial outcomes over the past four decades with joint efforts from China and Denmark. They particularly noted the remarkable progress in the field of electromicrobiology in recent years. The leaders expressed their earnest hope that both sides would build upon these achievements, make full use of the Sino-Danish International Research Center for Electromicrobiology, further establish platforms for the interaction and cultivation of young sci-tech talents, foster a healthy innovation ecosystem featuring multi-institutional collaboration and multi-team synergy, provide more high-level solutions for global green, low-carbon transformation and biomanufacturing innovation, and contribute significantly to developing new quality productive forces in China. Additionally, Mr. Xiaoxi Zhao, Vice Chairperson of the Guangzhou Association for Science and Technology, and Mr. Moutong Chen, Deputy Director of the Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences also attended the conference.
Under the theme "Global Collaborative Innovation Drives Electrical Microbiological Intelligent Manufacturing: From Basic Research to Industrial Applications", the symposium facilitated in-depth discussions on the frontier science of electromicrobiology, the latest research advances in electromicrobial intelligent manufacturing, and its application prospects and challenges. The opening ceremony was chaired by Prof. Jun Guo, Director of the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China. The keynote presentation sessions were chaired by Prof. Ping'an Peng, Academician of CAS, the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS, and Prof. Meiying Xu, Director of the Sino-Danish International Research Center for Electromicrobiology. A keynote address titled "Status on application of cable bacteria in management of environment and climate" was delivered by Prof. Lars Peter Nielsen, a leading scientist in international electromicrobiology from Aarhus University. His comprehensive presentation covered the fundamentals of cable bacteria, their impact on geochemistry, relevant findings from laboratory studies and in-situ investigations, and prospects for their application in ecological remediation and climate management. The invited presentation sessions were chaired by Prof. Mingdong Dong and Prof. Lars Riis Damgaard, both from Aarhus University. Experts and scholars from multiple institutions including Aarhus University, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), University of Science and Technology of China, University of Macau, Guangdong University of Technology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), and the Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences delivered excellent presentations on recent developments and achievements in the field of electromicrobiology. Concluding the symposium, Prof. Lars Peter Nielsen highly commended the research outcomes shared by experts and scholars from China and Denmark. He expressed sincere gratitude to the hosts, organizers, academic committee, organizing committee, and all participants. He also conveyed his anticipation for further in-depth collaboration between China and Denmark in electromicrobiology, spanning from basic research to industrial application.
On the morning of October 11, a training session for young scholars was led by a faculty team comprising over ten electromicrobiology experts from the Sino-Danish International Research Center for Electromicrobiology, including Prof. Lars Peter Nielsen and Prof. Meiying Xu. The training covered basic theories and the main experimental methods of electromicrobiology, featuring practice with frontier technologies such as the measurement of electrogenic sulfur oxidation activity of cable bacteria, preparation and observation of cable bacteria trench slides, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) observation of cable bacteria.
The successful convening of this symposium has significantly expanded the collaborative directions between China and Denmark in the field of electromicrobiology, providing new insights for constructing theoretical models and developing in situ dynamic research methods for electromicrobiology. Furthermore, it has facilitated the interdisciplinary integration of electromicrobiology with materials science, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence. Simultaneously, this symposium has injected new vitality into accelerating the industrial application of electromicrobial intelligent manufacturing.
