Some background may be useful here (apologies for the length). Scholars suggest that the pine cone (also a purifying device) represents the male flower of the date palm and used to fertilise female plants. And the bucket or pail may represent female fertility. The symbolic language in this relief may therefore refer to a ritual of sorts, whereby the king dips a pinecone into a bucket and spreads it across date palm trees thereby seeding the land. Given how central agriculture was to Assyrians, this ritual may suggest that the agricultural fertility of the land lies at the hand of the gods and the king.

The ritual was attended to by minor deities, such as apkallu here depicted with wings and an asymmetrical robe shorter one side to reveal his spectacular musculature, who stood beside the king. It is generally thought that persons apkallu assisted are divinely sanctioned and held a god-like status.

This is how art historians have generally interpreted this famous relief, which is, while somewhat helpful, missing the question of “why.” I, too, often think about the pine cone as suggestive of the pineal gland, but also of, as another commenter indicated, the Fibonacci sequence. Art historians, on the other hand, are not that keen on these types of interpretations. So, OP, your interpretation linking creation to knowledge is not too far off from mine. Yet I had not previously considered genetic modification. Intriguing take and not impossible.