Abstract: Lipase plays a very important role in food, pharmaceutical, fine chemical and bio-energy industries. Obtaining microbial lipase resource and improving their biocatalyst are important. Based on protein engineering and molecular techniques, directed evolution, hybrid enzyme, surface display give effective approaches to obtain novel lipase biocatalysts. By physical and chemical modification approaches such as bio-imprinting, pH memory, oriented immobilization, cross-linked enzyme crystal and lipid-coated enzyme, more broad and suitable characteristics of modified lipases are achieved. In conclusion, strategies for exploitation of microbial lipase resource and improvement of lipase biocatalyst will accelerate industrial application of lipase