Cell Explorer

Explore the organelles of a generalised animal cell in an interactive 3D scene, with real, cited cell-biology function descriptions and an isolate mode for each organelle.

This scene models a generalised animal (eukaryotic) cell — deliberately not a plant cell, so there is no chloroplast, cell wall or central vacuole here — and its major organelles: the nucleus, three mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, six ribosomes, and the enclosing plasma membrane. Each organelle’s function described in this scene is standard, textbook cell biology, cited to Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, Morgan D, Raff M, Roberts K, Walter P, “Molecular Biology of the Cell”, 6th edition (Garland Science, 2015). The nucleus houses the cell’s DNA and directs gene expression; mitochondria generate ATP through cellular respiration; the endoplasmic reticulum synthesises and folds proteins and lipids; the Golgi apparatus modifies, sorts and packages them for delivery; ribosomes translate messenger RNA into proteins; and the plasma membrane regulates what moves into and out of the cell.

An isolate mode lets you focus on one organelle kind at a time, dimming the rest of the cell, and a guided tour steps through each organelle in turn. Organelle sizes shown here preserve real relative ordering — a ribosome renders far smaller than the nucleus — using typical textbook diameters for a generalised animal cell rather than one specific real cell’s exact measurements, which do not exist as a single canonical number.

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Organelle functions, from standard cell biology (not illustrative placeholders)
Organelle	Function	Source
Nucleus	Houses the cell's genetic material (DNA) and directs cell activity through gene expression.	Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 6th ed. (Garland Science, 2015)
Mitochondria	Generate ATP through cellular respiration (oxidative phosphorylation) — the cell's main energy currency.	Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 6th ed. (Garland Science, 2015)
Endoplasmic Reticulum	Synthesises and folds proteins (rough ER, studded with ribosomes) and synthesises lipids (smooth ER).	Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 6th ed. (Garland Science, 2015)
Golgi Apparatus	Modifies, sorts, and packages proteins and lipids for secretion or delivery to other organelles.	Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 6th ed. (Garland Science, 2015)
Ribosomes	Synthesise proteins by translating messenger RNA (mRNA) into chains of amino acids.	Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 6th ed. (Garland Science, 2015)
Cell (Plasma) Membrane	Regulates the movement of substances into and out of the cell via selective permeability.	Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 6th ed. (Garland Science, 2015)