Lines of Credit and Long-Term Debt - Long-Term Debt - Additional Information (Details)	1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2018 USD ($) day $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt divested from deconsolidation				$ 4,030,000
Proceeds from long-term debt, net of issuance costs				376,000	$ 219,859,000	$ 325,000
Equity component of convertible debt, net of issuance costs and deferred taxes					36,868,000
Deferred income taxes				(3,674,000)	(21,278,000)	(2,528,000)
Interest payable				3,500,000
Long-term debt issued to a related party in an asset acquisition				0	30,000,000	$ 0
Long-term debt	$ 211,695,000			217,991,000	211,695,000
Convertible debt
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt	203,391,000			213,771,000	203,391,000
Convertible debt | Precigen ActoBio, Inc. | Harvest Intrexon Enterprise Fund I, LP
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, interest rate, stated percentage		3.00%
Interest expense				921,000	290,000
Long-term debt				$ 31,211,000
Notes payable to banks | Trans Ova Genetics, LC | American State Bank
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, interest rate, stated percentage				3.95%
Long-term debt				$ 4,077,000
Debt instrument, periodic payment				39,000
3.5% Convertible Notes Due 2023
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount			$ 200,000,000	200,000,000
Proceeds from long-term debt, net of issuance costs			193,958,000
Debt issuance costs			$ 6,042,000
Debt instrument, interest rate, stated percentage			3.50%
Conversion rate			58.6622
Principal amount used in conversion			$ 1,000
Conversion price (in usd per share) | $ / shares			$ 17.05
Debt instrument redemption price, percentage			100.00%
Carrying value of convertible debt	148,101,000		$ 143,723,000	$ 157,560,000	148,101,000
Equity component of convertible debt, net of issuance costs and deferred taxes			50,235,000
Deferred income taxes			$ 13,367,000
Effective interest rate on convertible notes				11.02%
Convertible notes, unamortized discount and issuance costs				$ 42,440,000
3.5% Convertible Notes Due 2023 | Minimum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Common stock price trading days | day			20
Common stock price consecutive trading days | day			30
Percentage of common share price over conversion price for conversion			130.00%
3.5% Convertible Notes Due 2023 | Maximum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Common stock price trading days | day			5
Common stock price consecutive trading days | day			5
Debt instrument redemption price, percentage			98.00%
Merck Convertible Note
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount	$ 25,000,000				$ 25,000,000
Percentage of IPO price used upon conversion	0.90
PIK interest rate if converted to subsidiary equity	0.05				0.05
Harvest Intrexon Enterprise Fund I, LP | Precigen ActoBio, Inc.
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt issued to a related party in an asset acquisition		$ 30,000,000