Crossword Genius

Bad reaction to engineered cell in Baltic city (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

allergic

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'bad' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

I don't understand how the remainder of the clue works.

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(Other definitions for allergic that I've seen before include "Hypersensitive (to a substance)" , "Being so, one may react rashly" , "Hypersensitive (to certain substances)" , "Physically intolerant" , "Medically sensitive to" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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