What is the general structure of an animal cell?

An animal cell consists of many sub-cellular structures that allow it to live and function as part of the animals body. The cell consists of a cell membrane which houses all the cells components. Because animal cells are eukaryotic, all their genetic information (DNA) is contained within the cells nucleus. The cell also contains mitochondria which allow the cell to respire to produce energy (in the form of ATP) and Ribosomes which produce proteins using the DNA as a code. All of these cell components are surrounded by a substance called the cytoplasm.