Certain biological systems have long been able to form ceramics in environmentally benign conditions. The near neutral pH and ambient temperatures of biology are in stark contrast to the conditions employed commercially. These man-made systems typically involve extremes of pH and temperature in order to form condensed ceramics from alkoxide precursors. We have developed a functionalized block copolymer synthesized with inspiration from the protein Silicatein α. This protein is found in silica spicules produced by the sponge Tethya aurantia . These spicules contain proteins at their core, the most abundant being Silicatein α. Our polymer contains the chemical functional groups shown to be active in natural protein and we have shown it to catalyze the hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). In this talk we will describe the polymer, the catalysis of silica formation from TEOS and the application of the polymer system to ceramics in addition to silica.