Prebiotic magnetite enables chirality-magnetic surface feedback.

Prebiotic magnetite made by UV-driven photo-oxidation or nitrite-mediated oxidation forms single-vortex and multivortex domain states that enable irreversible remagnetization upon contact with spin-polarized homochiral compounds.

• Why it matters: Homochirality needs symmetry breaking plus amplification and preservation of a chiral imbalance, but magnetite’s magnetic behavior under realistic prebiotic formation conditions was not known.
• What they did: The study synthesized magnetite via two geochemically plausible pathways, characterized domain states with magnetic measurements and electron microscopy, then used three-dimensional micromagnetic simulations to test interactions with spin-polarized homochiral compounds.
• The result: Single-domain and vortex-state grains show irreversible, exchange-driven remagnetization during these interactions, providing a robust way to store and reinforce weak chiral bias linked to persistent chiral imbalance on early Earth.

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