This article is a brief review of research in the Kamchatka geothermal region initiated by David Deamer and the author in 1999. Results obtained over the last 20 years are described, including a seminal experiment in which biologically important organic compounds were dispersed in a hot spring to determine their fate. Other investigations include ionic and organic composition of hydrothermal water, the source of hydrothermally generated oil, and pressure-temperature oscillations in hydrothermal systems. The relation of these results to research on the origin of life is discussed.
Keywords: hydrothermal systems; ionic and organic solutes; origin of life; prebiotic analogues.