Organization and Basis of Presentation	12 Months Ended
Organization and Basis of Presentation	Dec. 31, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization and Basis of Presentation	Organization and Basis of Presentation Precigen, Inc. ("Precigen"), a Virginia corporation, is a synthetic biology company with an increasing focus on its discovery and clinical stage activities to advance the next generation of gene and cellular therapies to target the most urgent and intractable challenges in immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. PGEN Therapeutics, Inc. ("PGEN Therapeutics") is a dedicated discovery and clinical stage biopharmaceutical company advancing the next generation of gene and cell therapies using precision technology to target urgent and intractable diseases in immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. PGEN Therapeutics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Precigen with primary operations in Maryland. Precigen ActoBio, Inc. ("ActoBio") is pioneering a proprietary class of microbe-based biopharmaceuticals that enable expression and local delivery of disease-modifying therapeutics and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Precigen with primary operations in Belgium. Exemplar Genetics, LLC, doing business as Precigen Exemplar ("Exemplar"), is committed to enabling the study of life-threatening human diseases through the development of MiniSwine Yucatan miniature pig research models and services, as well as enabling the production of cells and organs in its genetically engineered swine for regenerative medicine applications and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Precigen with primary operations in Iowa. Trans Ova Genetics, L.C. ("Trans Ova") and Progentus, L.C. ("Progentus"), providers of reproductive technologies, including services and products sold to cattle breeders and other producers, are wholly owned subsidiaries with primary operations in California, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Effective October 1, 2019, Precigen transferred substantially all of its proprietary methane bioconversion platform assets to a wholly owned subsidiary, MBP Titan LLC ("MBP Titan"). MBP Titan's proprietary technology is designed to convert natural gas into more valuable and usable energy and chemical products through novel, highly engineered bacteria that utilize specific energy feedstocks. Prior to October 1, 2019, the operation transferred to MBP Titan was an operating division within Precigen. Beginning in the second quarter of 2020, the Company suspended MBP Titan's operations and began the process to wind down MBP Titan's activities and has substantially completed the wind down by December 31, 2020. With the exception of certain assets and obligations with which the Company has a continuing involvement after the wind down, MBP Titan has been presented as discontinued operations for all periods presented. See Note 3 for further discussion. Through April 8, 2019, Precigen consolidated AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. ("AquaBounty"), a company focused on improving productivity in commercial aquaculture and whose common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. On April 9, 2019, AquaBounty completed an underwritten public offering that resulted in Precigen no longer having the contractual right to control AquaBounty's board of directors, and accordingly, Precigen deconsolidated AquaBounty resulting in a loss on deconsolidation of $2,648, which is included in other income, net, on the accompanying consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019. After deconsolidating the entity in April 2019, Precigen held its AquaBounty equity securities, which was an equity method investment that the Company accounted for using the fair value option, until October 2019 when the independent members of the Company's board of directors, with the recommendation of the audit committee and an independent special committee of the Board, unanimously approved the sale of the Company's common shares held in AquaBounty to an affiliate of Third Security, LLC ("Third Security"), a related party, for $21,587, resulting in the recognition of a realized gain of $7,348 which is included in unrealized and realized appreciation in fair value of equity securities and preferred stock, net, on the accompanying consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019. On January 31, 2020, Precigen completed the sale of the majority of its non-healthcare assets and operations to an affiliate of Third Security, which are presented as discontinued operations for all periods presented. See Notes 3 and 14 for further discussion. Precigen and its consolidated subsidiaries are hereinafter referred to as the "Company." Liquidity and Going Concern Management believes that existing liquid assets as of December 31, 2020, along with the net proceeds from the underwritten public offering in January 2021 (Note 23), will allow the Company to continue its operations for at least a year from the issuance date of these consolidated financial statements. These consolidated financial statements are presented in United States dollars and are prepared under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP"). The Company is subject to a number of risks similar to those of other companies conducting high-risk, early-stage research and development of product candidates. Principal among these risks are dependence on key individuals and intellectual property, competition from other products and companies, and the technical risks associated with the successful research, development and clinical manufacturing of its and its collaborators' product candidates. Additionally, the accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company incurred a net loss of $170,521 and, as of December 31, 2020, had an accumulated deficit of $1,823,390. Management expects operating losses and negative cash flows to continue for the foreseeable future and, as a result, the Company will require additional capital to fund its operations and execute its business plan. In the absence of a significant source of recurring revenue, the Company's long-term success is dependent upon its ability to continue to raise additional capital in order to fund ongoing research and development, reduce uses of cash for operating and investing activities for non-healthcare functions, obtain regulatory approval of its product candidates, successfully commercialize its product candidates, generate revenue, meet its obligations and, ultimately, attain profitable operations. Upon the original issuance of the Company's financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company's resources of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments were not sufficient to fund the Company's planned operations through one year after the date the 2018 consolidated financial statements were originally issued and accordingly, there was substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The analysis used to determine the Company's ability to continue as a going concern did not include cash sources outside of the Company's direct control that management expected to be available within the twelve months following the original issuance of the 2018 consolidated financial statements. At the time of the original issuance of the 2018 consolidated financial statements, the Company could not ensure that it would be able to obtain sufficient additional funding through monetizing certain of its existing assets, entering into new license and collaboration agreements, issuing additional equity or debt instruments or any other means, and if it was able to do so, they may not be on satisfactory terms. The Company's ability to raise additional capital in the equity and debt markets, should the Company choose to do so, was dependent on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the market demand for the Company's common stock, which itself is subject to a number of business risks and uncertainties, as well as the uncertainty that the Company would be able to raise such additional capital at a price or on terms that were favorable to the Company. Should the Company not have been able to secure additional funding through these means, the Company could have had to engage in any or all of the following activities: (i) shift internal investments from subsidiaries and platforms whose potential for value creation was longer-term to near-term opportunities; (ii) sell certain of its operating subsidiaries to third parties; (iii) reduce operating expenditures for third-party contractors, including consultants, professional advisors and other vendors; and (iv) reduce or delay capital expenditures, including non-essential facility expansions, lab equipment, and information technology projects. The 2018 consolidated financial statements were prepared on a going concern basis and did not include any adjustments to the amounts and classification of assets and liabilities that may have been necessary in the event the Company could no longer continue as a going concern.