Abstract : Escherichia coli holds important secrets of the life, and persists with its 'metallic sheen' among the model organisms used in modern biology research. Exploration of core biological processes in this classical model organism continues to provide a wealth of new information relevant to all life forms. In my lecture, I will discuss how the excellent amenability of E. coli to the classical genetics approaches in conjunction with the modern molecular methods continues to unravel evolutionary complexities of biological systems. In particular, I will discuss examples of how E. coli has been instrumental in addressing many questions in our pursuit of understanding the protein synthesis machinery.