Suppose you found that the length of the seedling had not changed during the 48-hour period. Hypothesize about some possible explanations for this lack of growth

the last one: artificial selection/genetic engineering

plant breeding is modifying the genetic composition of the plant - but this isn't cloning (which is specifically introducing a gene into a genome). but you are artificially selecting for the phenotype that you want.

the second one is literally genetic engineering - the gene would have been cloned first and then inserted or genetically engineered into the new plant cell (the cotton).

essentially, one bacterial cell splits into two daugurer cells. bacterial offspring don't need or get care from their parents because they are in a sense their own parents. that said, some bacteria can and do depend on other bacteria especially in harsh environments such as bacterial microfilms in hot water tanks.