Amorphous structure of iron oxide of bacterial origin

► The amorphous structure of bacterial iron oxide was investigated. ► The structure was simulated by high-energy X-ray diffraction and reverse Monte Carlo simulation. ► The structure was constructed of a framework of corner- and edge-sharing distorted FeO6 octahedral units. ► SiO4 tetrahedral units were distributed isolatedly in the framework of FeO6 octahedral units.