Organization and Basis of Presentation (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 Area	Dec. 31, 2013 Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. [Member]		Dec. 31, 2013 ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 OncoCyte Corporation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 OrthoCyte Corporation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 ES Cell International Pte., Ltd. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 BioTime Asia, Limited [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Cell Cure Neurosciences, Ltd. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 LifeMap Sciences, Inc. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 LifeMap Sciences, Ltd. [Member]		Dec. 31, 2013 BioTime Acquisition Corporation [Member]	Oct. 01, 2013 BioTime Acquisition Corporation [Member]
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Number areas which entity engaged in biomedical research and product development	2
BioTime Ownership (in hundredths)		71.60%	[1]	94.80%	75.00%	100.00%	100.00%	81.00%	62.50%	0.00%	0.00%	[2]	96.70%	71.60%

[1] BioTime’s percentage ownership was reduced from approximately 96.7% to approximately 71.6% on October 1, 2013 when Asterias issued common stock to BioTime and Geron Corporation pursuant to an Asset Contribution Agreement and sold common stock and warrants to a private investor for cash in a related transaction.

[2] LifeMap Sciences, Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of LifeMap Sciences, Inc.