Dr. Marat Yusupov began his structural studies on the ribosome in the mid 1980ies at the Institute of Protein Research, Academy of Sciences in Puschino, Moscow Region, USSR. In the early 90ies the research opportunities in Russia were drastically reduced and Marat Yusupov and his collaborating wife Gullara Yusupova left for France where they were able to continue their structural studies at the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Unite Structure des Macromolecules Biologiques et Mecanismes de Reconnaissance, in Illkirch outside of Strasbourg. A few years later the Yusupovs moved again, this time to the Center for Molecular Biology of RNA, Sinsheimer Laboratories, University of California at Santa Cruz, USA. It was here that Marat Yusupov with his wife and colleagues in the group of Harry Noller published in 2001 the first molecular view of a complex bacterial ribosome, describing its structure down to the 5,5 Å level. This discovery made the front page of the Science magazine and, furthermore, landed the Yusupovs the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize 2001 for their outstanding paper. Since autumn 2001 the Yusupovs are back in France at the CNRS from where they now together with their colleagues pursue the resolution of the ribosomal structure down towards the molecular level.