We studied necrotaxis in several strains of protists and compared the reaction of living cells in the vicinity of cells killed by a ruby laser. Negative necrotaxis was observed for the unicellular green alga Euglena gracilis, whereas Chlamydomonas was shown to exhibit positive necrotaxis. The cellular colony Pandorina morum exhibited no reaction to the killing of nearby colonies. Both the colorless cryptomonad Chilomonas paramecium and the ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis exhibited negative necrotaxis following the lysis of vitally stained specimens of their own species. They also exhibited negative necrotaxis following the lysis of Euglena cells. It was also demonstrated that the cellular content of Euglena cells lysed by heat or by a mechanical procedure acts as a repellent to intact Euglena cells. These results suggest that the negative necrotaxis provoked in Euglena by the laser irradiation is probably due to the chemotactic effect produced by the release of cell content in the extracellular medium. This cell content could, according to its chemical composition, act either as a repellent, an attractant, or be inactive. The sensitivity of cells (specific or nonspecific ion channels or chemoreceptors) are also of prime importance in the process.