NATURE OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION | NATURE OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. ("Yield10 Bioscience," "Yield10" or the "Company") was founded as Metabolix, Inc. in 1992 and changed its name in January 2017. Yield10 is an agricultural bioscience company focusing on the development of new technologies to enable step-change increases in crop yield to enhance global food security. Yield10 is using two proprietary advanced biotechnology trait gene discovery platforms to improve fundamental crop yield through enhanced photosynthetic carbon capture and increased carbon utilization efficiency to increase seed yield. These platforms are based on the principle that plants which capture and utilize carbon more efficiently will enable more robust crops capable of increased seed yield. Yield10 is working to translate and demonstrate the commercial value of novel yield trait genes it has identified in major crops and to identify additional genome editing targets for improved crop performance in several key food and feed crops, including canola, soybean, rice and corn. Yield10 Bioscience is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts and has an additional agricultural science facility with greenhouses located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited and have been prepared by Yield10 in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the Company’s annual consolidated financial statements have been condensed or omitted. The year-end condensed consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. The condensed consolidated financial statements, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair statement of the financial position and results of operations for the interim periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 . The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations to be expected for any future period or the entire fiscal year. These interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016 , which are contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 30, 2017. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a basis which assumes that the Company will continue as a going concern and which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business. With the exception of 2012, when the Company recognized $38,885 of deferred revenue from a terminated joint venture, the Company has recorded losses since its initial founding, including its fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2017. During 2016, the Company completed a strategic restructuring under which Yield10 Bioscience became its core business. In connection with the restructuring, the Company discontinued its pilot biopolymer production and other biopolymer operations, sold substantially all of its biopolymer assets to CJ CheilJedang Corporation ("CJ") for a total purchase price of $10,000 and reduced staffing levels to approximately twenty full-time employees as of December 31, 2016, in order to focus on crop science activities and significantly reduce the Company's cash burn rate used in operations. During 2016, the Company recorded restructuring charges of $3,513 and as of March 31, 2017, restructuring obligations of $1,610 remain outstanding with various payment due dates through May 2018. As of March 31, 2017, the Company held unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $4,875 . The Company anticipates current cash resources will be sufficient to fund operations and meet its obligations, including its restructuring obligations, when due into the fourth quarter of 2017. This forecast of cash resources is forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties, and the actual amount of expenses could vary materially and adversely as a result of a number of factors. The Company has evaluated the guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's ("FASB") Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-15, Presentation of Financial Statements-Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40) in order to determine whether there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern for one year after the date its financial statements are issued. The Company's ability to continue operations after its current cash resources are exhausted depends on its ability to obtain additional financing through, among other sources, public or private equity financing, secured or unsecured debt financing, equity or debt bridge financing, additional government research grants or collaborative arrangements with third parties, as to which no assurances can be given. Management does not know whether additional financing will be available on terms favorable or acceptable to the Company when needed, if at all. If adequate additional funds are not available when required, or if the Company is unsuccessful in entering collaborative arrangements for further research, management may be forced to curtail the Company's research efforts, explore strategic alternatives and/or wind down its operations, pursue options for liquidating its remaining assets, including intellectual property and equipment and/or seek strategic alternatives. Based on the cash forecast, management has determined that the Company's present capital resources are not sufficient to fund its planned operations for the twelve months from the date that the financial statements are issued, which raises substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. During 2015, the Company entered into a common stock purchase agreement with Aspire Capital Fund, LLC ("Aspire"). Under terms of the agreement, Aspire committed to purchase up to $20,000 of Yield10 Bioscience common stock over a 30 month period that will end on May 8, 2018. Common stock may be sold from time to time at the Company’s option under pricing formulas based on prevailing market prices around the time of each sale. The purchase agreement contains limitations on the number of shares that the Company may sell to Aspire. Additionally, the Company and Aspire may not effect any sales of shares of its common stock under the purchase agreement during the continuance of an event of default or on any trading day that the closing sale price of its common stock is less than $0.50 per share. At March 31, 2017, the market price for the Company's common stock was below $0.50 , and although the full $20,000 remained available under the purchase agreement with Aspire, market conditions likely limit the extent which the Company can draw on this facility. If the Company issues equity or debt securities to raise additional funds, (i) the Company may incur fees associated with such issuance, (ii) its existing stockholders may experience dilution from the issuance of new equity securities, (iii) the Company may incur ongoing interest expense and be required to grant a security interest in Company assets in connection with any debt issuance, and (iv) the new equity or debt securities may have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of the Company’s existing stockholders. In addition, utilization of the Company’s net operating loss and research and development credit carryforwards may be subject to significant annual limitations under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 due to ownership changes resulting from equity financing transactions. If the Company raises additional funds through collaboration, licensing or other similar arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to its potential products or proprietary technologies, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to the Company. On June 30, 2016, the Company received a Notice of Delisting from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq") as a result of the Company's bid price for the previous 30 consecutive business days closing below the minimum $1.00 per share requirement for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company was provided with an initial period of 180 calendar days, or until December 27, 2016, to regain compliance. On December 28, 2016, the Company received a second notice that Nasdaq had granted the Company an additional 180 days (until June 26, 2017) to regain compliance with Nasdaq's $1.00 per share minimum bid price. The Company is considering actions that it may take in order to regain compliance with this continued listing requirement. In that regard, the Company has included a proposal in the proxy statement for its annual meeting of stockholders, to be held on May 24, 2017, to approve a reverse stock split with a ratio in the range of 1-for-2 to 1-for-10. If this proposal is approved by the stockholders and implemented by the Company, it could allow the Company to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. |