In a Dec. 11, 2013 file photo, an orange blossom grows alongside some ripening fruit in a grove in Plant City, Florida.

( AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

At a Glance

A hoped-for breakthrough to manage citrus greening will not be coming, which comes as a blow to the $8.6 billion citrus industry.Citrus greening occurs when tiny Asian aphids spread bacteria to the leaves and fruit of citrus trees.

Florida's citrus growers received the bad news Tuesday that a medical breakthroughto combat a diseasekilling citrus trees by the millions is not likely to happen.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineeringand Medicine, which advises the government on science and technical issues, released Tuesday, saying the will not be coming. The news comes as a blow to the $8.6 billion citrus industry, according to a press release.

Citrus greening, more formally known asHuanglongbing (HLB), is a condition that develops whena tiny insect called theAsian Citrus Psyllid causes bacteria to grow on the leaf and fruit of a tree, which ultimately kills it. Greening was responsible for a $2.9 billion loss to the industry between2007 and 2014, the report noted.

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The agency said Tuesday there were significant barriers that preventthe long-awaited breakthrough.

"Among them the inability to culture the bacteria in the laboratory, the lack of advanced diagnostics for early disease detectionand the absence of standardized research methodology that would improve the comparability of results across studies," the report says.

Instead, researchers are suggesting a master plan to coordinate research efforts and management of the disease.

"In the long run, HLB solutions would likely utilize new technology, such as gene modification and gene editing, focusing on targets that mediate molecular interactions among plant, bacteriaand the vector," the committee said.

In order for growers to remain viable in the short-term, the committee said the best plan of attack is to coordinate a suite of strategies to control the disease in different environmental and growing conditions.

The industry has had a particularly difficult year. In September,Hurricane Irma struck the Sunshine State and damaged more than 421,000 acresof citrus trees, resulting in , according to a release from State Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam.