Crossbreeding

Crossbreeding, refers to the process of breeding two organisms, each from a distinct genetic lineage (members of a 'type', 'race' or 'breed') with the intention to create offspring that share some of the positive traits of both parent lineages or producing an organism with less of the recessive, negative rates of either parent lineage: a condition called 'hybrid vigor'. The offspring of crossbreeding any two individuals each of two relatively homozygous breeds will all exhibit very similar phenotypes and are referred to as the F1 generation. Members of the F1 generation will be heterozygous and, if allowed to breed will have offspring with a wide variety of unpredictable physical traits. This is why cross breeds are often used as a terminal cross.

While crossbreeding can by used to maintain health and viability of organisms, irresponsible crossbreeding can also produce organisms of inferior quality or dilute a purebred gene pool to the point of extinction of a given breed of organism.[citation needed]

The term "crossbreed" is also used at times to refer to a domestic animal of unknown ancestry where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, though the term "mixed breed" is technically more accurate. The term outcross is used to describe a type of crossbreeding used within a purebred breed to increase the genetic diversity within the breed, particularly when there is a need to avoid inbreeding.

Sometimes a crossbred organism is referred to as a "hybrid". This usage, along with 'cross-pollenated', is correct for plant breeding whereas in animal breeding, crossbreed describes crosses within a single species, while hybrid refers to crosses between different species. It's important to note that neither crossbreeds and hybrids are forms of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) - that term is only used for gene-splicing techniques in a lab rather than traditional breeding methods.