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Resources: Mirel History

PHAs (polyhydroxyalkanoates -- the chemical term for a naturally occurring form of polyester ultimately derived from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water through the process of photosynthesis) were first identified by the French microbiologist Maurice Lemoigne in 1925. Lemoigne discovered polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), one of the most abundant PHAs in nature. PHB is a highly crystalline thermoplastic, and melts close to its decomposition temperature, making it very difficult to process commercially.

Over the past two decades, over a hundred more PHA polymers have been described in the scientific literature. The properties of these polymers range from stiff, highly crystalline materials like PHB to soft, low melting thermoplastics like polyhydroxyoctanoate (PHO) to other PHAs which are completely amorphous, tacky substances.

Several efforts to commercialize PHAs, notably by ICI in the 1980s and early 1990s, and by Monsanto in the mid 1990s, foundered on the twin deficiencies of high cost and very limited processability and properties. Metabolix has overcome both of these deficiencies, and is now able to produce a broad range of processable PHAs with competitive economics.