Paciest bowling to become sterile (7)

I believe the answer is:

aseptic

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'sterile' is the definition.
(I know that sterile can be written as aseptic)

'paciest bowling to' is the wordplay.
'paciest' can be anagrammed to 'ASEPTIC'.
Though, I'm not sure how the anagram is indicated.

'become' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aseptic that I've seen before include "Free from bacteria, surically clean" , "Free from harmful bacteria" , "Spicate (anag.)" , "avoiding germs" , "Paciest (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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