APIE ATEINANČIĄ SINTETINĖS BIOLOGIJOS KONDRATJEVO BANGĄ IR BIOKAPITALISTINĘ LIETUVĄ
ON THE COMING SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY KONDRATIEFF WAVE AND BIOCAPITALIST LITHUANIA

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses technological conditions and political-economical outcomes of the forthcoming scientific-technological revolution. Its technological conditions will be created by the synthetic biology (extreme genetic engineeering) as new technoscience in the making which promises the transition from the tinkering modification of the genome of natural life species to the creation of the artificial life species. Mass media focus on the prospects of synthetic biology in the medical biotechnologies. However, the changes in the energetics, technology of traditional and computer industries brought by the advances in the synthetic biology may have much more important economic outcomes, unleashing the 6th Kondratieff wave. The political economical outcome of the synthetic biology technological revolution will be the formation of the new biocapitalist mode of production which will succeed contemporary digital capitalism. The author rejects technological determinism as general theory of causes of social change. However, technological determinism remains suitable for the explanation of social change in the societies grounded in the technocapitalist modes of production. Prediction by Ray Kurzweil of transhuman singularity imminent after synthetic biological revolution in technology is also rejected. The paper closes with the alternative to the official scenario of development of Lithuania by and after 2030.

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