Synthetic biology strategies for synthesizing polyhydroxyalkanoates from unrelated carbon sources

► A list of 64 new and unique PHA monomers identified since 1995 was compiled. ► An argument was made for accessing novel monomers by avoiding related feedstocks. ► Review of known and potential pathways for making monomers from unrelated sources. ► Synthetic biology and its impact on metabolic engineering of PHA was discussed.