Aparent plant reproduced asexually to form the daughter plant if the leaf cells of the parent plant have 24 chromosomes which two statements are true of the daughter plant a) the daughter plant develops from a zygote b) the leaf cells of the daughter plant have 12 chromosomes c) the daughter plant is genetidally similar to the parent plant d) the leaf cells of the daughter plant have 24 chromosomes e) the reproduction of the daughter plant involved meiosis

Let us consider each statement separately. A zygote is the result of the fusion of two gametes (reproductive cells) and thus only appears in sexual reproduction. For the same reason, E) is wrong; meiosis is a step in the making of gametes and again, a plant that reproduces asexually does not produce gametes. B) is also wrong since (healthy) members of the same species have the same number of chromosomes. The leaf cells of the daughter plant will have 24 chromosomes. The only case where this would not hold, is the case of sexual reproduction, where the gametes of the new organism have half the chromosomes of the ancestor organisms. Hence, C and D are correct. We have already justified D. As far as C is concerned, in asexual reproduction we have that every organism passes his whole genome to his offspring and this creates a lot of clones next to each other. Every plant in a garden of a species that reproduces asexually may be genetically identical and some biologists consider them for that reason as the same organism!

Genetic engineering is the answer.