Thinking a lot about ratchets lately. Internal and external. Ratchets are more fundamental than clocks. Things that can only grow in one direction, and reversed only via destruction.
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There's surprisingly few literal ratchet mechanisms in biology. The hayflick limit (cell reproduction) is one I can think of. There's also some enzymes that work kinda like mechanical ratchets. The body is bad at "counting" itself. Lots of tick tocks, few odometers.
the first example that leapt to mind was tree growth (can self-prune or let fire/environment prune but can’t un-grow)
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hormonal regulation of growth? hence trans activists focus on puberty blockers... harder to transition if you have to rewind first insect life cycle... egg --> caterpillar --> pupa --> adult? Not sure how that's regulated.
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Just thought of a good one: ear wax. There's some sort of mechanism in inner ear that produces and moves ear wax outwards. Also more trivially, digestive tract. Throwing up is a sign of illness (ratchet reverse), pooping is normal.
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