We are facing serious environmental challenges, and environmental biotechnology is an enabling technology to reduce or eliminate pollution. In recent years, environmental pollution in China has been receiving great attention, and this paper provides an up-to-date review on progress in biodegradation research in China. This progress includes the isolation of extremophilic microorganisms for pollutant degradation in extreme conditions and the study of genes and enzymes related to biodegradation pathways. Biodegradation engineering has potential as an interesting and powerful platform, where genetic engineering, process engineering, and signal transduction engineering are applied together. In addition, pollutant treatment combined with the production of renewable sources of bioenergy by microorganisms is attractive. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.