Royalty Obligation and Deferred License Fees (Details)	9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012 WARF [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 WARF [Member] Minimum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 WARF [Member] Maximum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Lifeline Cell Technology, LLC [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Advanced Cell Technology Inc, with Kirin Sublicense I [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Advanced Cell Technology Inc, with Kirin Sublicense II [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2009 Reproductive Genetics Institute [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute [Member] Pharmaceutical Products [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute [Member] Research Use Products [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd [Member] ILS	Sep. 30, 2012 Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd [Member] Minimum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd [Member] Maximum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd (Clinical trial phase I) [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd (Clinical trial phase II) [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd (Clinical trial phase III) [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 University of Utah License [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 University of Utah License [Member] Minimum [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 University of Utah License, Milestone I [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Sponsored Research Agreement with Weill Cornell Medical College [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Agreements with USCN Life Science, Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Office of the Chief Scientist ("OCS") of Israel Grant [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, useful life	10 years
Royalty rate on sale of products and services (in hundredths)			2.00%	4.00%		8.00%	5.00%	3.50%			4.00%	10.00%	5.00%							3.00%					3.50%
Licensing fees paid		$ 295,000			$ 250,000	$ 250,000	$ 200,000	$ 50,000
Annual license maintenance fee		25,000
Maximum royalty payments						1,000,000	600,000
Fees for sublicense (in hundredths)							20.00%	20.00%		20.00%					10.00%	30.00%				30.00%
Annual minimum royalty due								50,000						100,000
Common shares issued (in shares)									32,259
Common shares issued, market value									50,000
Reduction in royalties payable, percentage (in hundredths)										(50.00%)
Portion of fees for filing, prosecuting, and maintaining patent protection to be reimbursed by subsidiary (in hundredths)										25.00%
Payment for patent expense													249,058
Payment to licensor upon exercise of option to license (in hundredths)													30.00%
Payments for attaining milestone																	250,000	250,000	1,000,000	5,000	2,500	225,000
Minimum royalty amount in 2013																				15,000
Minimum royalty amount in 2014																				22,500
Minimum royalty amount in 2015 and thereafter																				$ 30,000
Number of licensed patents issued that trigger payments to licensor																				5
Number of other licensees that triggers reduction in payments for attaining milestone																					2
Research period																							3 years
Number of agreements																								2