Polyhydroxyalkanoate Metabolix

Metabolix Inc., is a private firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, that was spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992 and acquired biopolymer technology from Monsanto Inc. in 2001. Metabolix began its first commercial production of organic polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) resin, based on corn sugar in 2005 at an undisclosed location in the Midwest. The plant was expected to produce around 100 tonnes of material in 2005 and close to 1000 tonnes in 2006. 

Metabolix and ADM have formed the joint venture Telles to produce and market polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) resins based on corn sugar. The Japanese company Kaneka has just recently announced to launch a 1000 mt production facility for the manufacture of Kaneka PHBH, a copolymer of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyhexanoate [13]. 

Metabolix Inc. (USA) has developed a fermentation process to produce biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from renewable feedstock by incorporating genes from PHA-producing bacteria into a strain of Escherichia coli. The fermentation process... 

Polyhydroxyalkanoates can be made from over 100 monomers based onpoly(3-hydroxyalkanoates) (P3HB), poly(4-hydroxybutyrate) P4HB, PHB, and PHV. PHA is produced in the cells of bacteria from at least five different PHA biosynthetic pathways (Park and Lee 2005 Madison and Huisman 1999). PHA is harvested from the cells and made into plastic pellets. Poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates) are the most common PHA and are the basis of PHAs produced by Metabolix Company and Tianjin Company. The P3HB can be copolymerized with P4HB to produce a flexible polymer based on PHAs. Polyhydroxyalkanoates have hydroxy-acid repeat units that are produced by bacterial fermentation with sugars or lipids to create linear polyesters. 

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