Queen’s Genetically Engineered Machine (QGEM) Team is the Queen’s University chapter of International Genetic Engineered Machine (iGEM). We are an undergraduate research and design team that uses innovations in the fast-evolving field of synthetic biology to tackle current real-world problems related to medicine, industry, the environment, sustainability, and more. We will be engineering a bacterium to use PET plastic, the type of plastic found in your clear water bottles, as feed stock to synthesize PHB, a type of bioplastic. In other words, our bacterium will be a living recycling machine that will convert plastic into a more environmentally friendly bioplastic!