Animal cell

The animal cell often has a round shape and is surrounded by a soft, pliable and thin membrane. As with plant cells, animal cells may have vacuoles, but these are smaller than in the plant cells. Vacuoles occur, e.g. when the cell surrounds a particle in order to benefit from its nutrients.

The animal cell is surrounded by a cell membrane that is a thin membrane with small pores allowing water and nutrients to pass through. Inside the membrane there is a mass called cell plasma. The cell plasma consists of water, salts, proteins, various nutrients and waste products from the metabolism stored in the so-called vacuoles. DNA is stored in the middle of the animal cell’s nucleus.

A cell also consists of mitochondria, ribosomes and a cell nucleus that controls all the functions of the cell. In animals, ribosomes can be interconnected in special networks.

A cell’s DNA is stored in the cell nucleus. DNA encodes for templates produced in the cell nucleus. These templates subsequently determine which protein is to be produced in the cell's protein factory, the ribosome. Making proteins requires energy. The cell produces energy by burning glucose. The animal cell is not able to produce the sugar needed to create proteins, so animals need to eat carbohydrates, or sugar.

Using various nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins, the cell's power plant – the mitochondria – can generate energy-rich substances that the cells can then use to perform their job. This process is called cellular respiration.

Any inappropriate substances that enter the cell are dealt with by the lysosome. The lysosome encloses the foreign body and breaks it down. The waste material is then transported out of the cell.