Investments in Joint Ventures - Intrexon Energy Partners II - Additional Information (Details)	1 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) board_seat
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Investment	$ 9,977,000	$ 25,847,000
Intrexon Energy Partners II
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Membership interest	50.00%
Maximum additional capital contribution committed	$ 10,000,000
Total number of seats on the joint venture's governing board \| board_seat		5
Intrexon Energy Partners II \| Investments In Affiliates
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Investment	$ 2,000,000	$ 1,591,000
Intrexon Energy Partners II \| Investors
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Membership interest	50.00%
Capital contributions	$ 18,000,000
Maximum additional capital contribution committed	10,000,000
Intrexon Energy Partners II \| All Investors
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Capital contributions	4,000,000
Intrexon Energy Partners II \| Upfront and Milestone Payments \| Upfront
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Collaborative arrangement consideration received, value	$ 18,000,000

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66011266&loc=d3e33918-111571

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+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66022249&loc=d3e33749-111570

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12)
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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (b)
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