# The discovery of virus didn't involve seeing it The first bacteria were discovered by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. He saw them through his own microscope. Viruses were not discovered like that. [[Porcelain filter was used to remove bacteria from water]]. In 1892, Russian botanist named Dmitri Ivanovsky discovered that sap of plants infected with tobacco mosaic disease remained infectious after filtering through the finest Chamberland filters. 6 years later, Martinus Beijerinck did similar experiments and showed that this particular infectious agent was able to reproduce and multiply, meaning it's not a toxin but a living organism. This is how we discovered the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). We didn't actually "see" the tobacco mosaic virus until 1935, after electron microscopes were invented. Virology preceded that by 43 years. Go science! ## Road signs - [[Porcelain filter was used to remove bacteria from water]] --- Source: - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_mosaic_virus) - [LibreTexts](https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Introductory_Biology_(CK-12)/07%3A_Prokaryotes_and_Viruses/7.10%3A_Discovery_and_Origin_of_Viruses)