The purposive geochemical investigations of heterocyclic components identified in dispersed organic matter (DOM) of different genetic character and West Siberian oils carried out under the guidance of academician Kontorovich A.E., using a wide spectrum of physical and physical-chemical techniques have shown that both asphaltenes and resins of the dispersed organic matter from source rocks and crude oils contain, as do hydrocarbons, "inherited" information on a biological composition of the parent living matter, biochemical features of its lipid fraction and burial conditions. The main conclusions are as follows: * Being one of the intermediate products of the kerogen cracking reactions, asphaltenes are always present in bitumoids of the source rocks, aqueous bitumoids (AB) of underground waters and crude oils. * Similarity of kerogens and syngenetic asphaltenes allows the assumption that the kerogen-derived asphaltenes had inherited its chemical composition. This fact may be of use in source rock diagnostics. * Asphaltenes from crude oils genetically related to organic-rich marine clay strata, asphaltenes from the aqueous DOM and aqueous bitumoids display practically identical elemental compositions and molecular structures. This implies that having been formed in source strata during diagenesis and catagenesis they have migrated into the pool together with hydrocarbons. This conclusion makes sense in resolving the problem of the composition of primary oils in pools. * Asphaltenes could be successfully used as indicators of the genetic relationship between crude oils and source rock OM in determination of plausible oil generation sources and prediction of their quality. * Asphaltenes contain the imprinted information of the composition of primary crude oil, not degraded during biogeradation.