Ribosomes are the universal cellular machines that act as very efficient polymerases that translate the genetic code into proteins.Owing to the ribosomes key role in life,many antibiotics target them.Over a decade of structural studies on complexes of ribosomes with antibiotics yielded several imperative insights concerning the structural bases for the antibiotics modes of action,including induced fit and remote intersections;the basis for antibiotics synergism;the differentiation between ribosomes of pathogens vs.those of higher organism;the mechanisms of resistance to antibiotics,including secondary conformational rearrangements;cross-resistance to ribosomal antibiotics;parameters allowing for clinical usage of antibiotics targeting fully conserved regions;and minute chemical differences that can turn competition into synergism,have been characterized.Based on those insights,the feasibility of design of advanced efficient antibiotics and/or of the improvement of the existing compounds could be assessed,thus paving the way to exciting developments in this area.