1.Amoebas glide toward their prey with the help of a protein switch that controls a molecular compass

2.Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered this.

3.The amoeba Dictyostelium finds bacteria by scent and moves toward its meal by assembling a molecular motor on its leading edge.

4.Richard Firtel is a professor of biology along with graduate student Sheng Zhang.

5.”The biochemical components of the system match those found in vertebrate immune cells called neutrophils that hunt down bacterial invaders, suggesting that the switch might be a key navigational control for many types of cells.”“The pathway and responses are very similar and so are the molecules.” Firtel says.