Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2018 USD ($)
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Research and development commitments with third parties not incurred	$ 10,682					$ 10,631				$ 10,682	$ 10,631
Maturity period of highly liquid investment										3 months
Cash equivalent investments in highly liquid money market accounts	43,012					43,808				$ 43,012	43,808
Fair value of financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis	183,173					335,307				183,173	335,307
Unrealized and realized appreciation (depreciation) in fair value of equity securities and preferred stock										2,586	(58,894)	$ 66,876
Maximum risk of loss related to the identified VIEs	185,261					159,115				$ 185,261	159,115
Number of segments | segment										1
Property, plant and equipment, net	112,674					64,672				$ 112,674	64,672
Revenues	$ 77,028	[1]	$ 46,016	$ 54,433	$ 53,504	$ 46,002	$ 48,985	$ 52,501	$ 43,438	230,981	190,926	173,605
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-09										0
Valuation allowance, deferred tax asset, change in amount due to adoption of accounting principle										$ 17,843	$ 0	0
Oragenics, Inc.
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Company's ownership percentage	29.40%					29.50%				29.40%	29.50%
ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Realized investment gain												81,401
Equity securities
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Fair value of financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis	$ 15,100					$ 23,522				$ 15,100	$ 23,522
Equity securities | Oragenics, Inc.
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Fair value of financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis	3,085					7,244				3,085	7,244
Unrealized and realized appreciation (depreciation) in fair value of equity securities and preferred stock										(4,159)	(10,523)	4,863
Foreign Countries
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, net	$ 21,837					$ 13,265				21,837	13,265
Revenues										$ 17,605	$ 11,969	$ 5,918
Minimum
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Expected useful life of intangible asset										3 years
Maximum
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Expected useful life of intangible asset										21 years
Intrexon Stock Option Plans
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Expected dividend yield										0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Additional Paid-in Capital
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-09										$ 1,461
Subsequent Event | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2014-09													$ 40,413
Subsequent Event | Ares Trading S.A. | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2014-09													40,789
Subsequent Event | ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Organization And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2014-09													$ 376

[1] During the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company recognized the remaining balance of deferred revenue associated with ZIOPHARM ECC2 upon the parties' mutual agreement to terminate (Note 5). The Company also recorded goodwill impairment charges primarily related to the AquaBounty reporting unit and an impairment charge related to certain of its in-process research and development assets (Note 11).