The Mirvis Research Group is a group of 90 people from seven countries around the world (Australia, Canada, England, France, Israel, South Africa, and United States) who carry out One-Surname research to determine if their separate MIRVIS family trees based in Lithuania are connected. Of the 31 separate MRG Member Trees which we have assembled, ten were linked together by MRG research from a larger initial group of separate family trees. Of another 33 Archival Trees extracted from archives, some have already been ancestrally linked to our Member Trees, and others are still being investigated.

MRG is researching all families who spell their surnames in one of the following ways: MERVES, MERVICH, MERVIS, MERVISH, MERVITZ, MERVOS, MERVOSH, MERWIS, MERWISE, MERWITZ, MERWITZER, MIRVES, MIRVIS, MIRVISCH, MIRVISH, MIRVISS, MIRVITZ, MIRWICH, MIRWIS, MIRWISH, MIRWITCH, MIRWITZ, or MURVUS, or indeed in any other compatible way.

Although we will all benefit from this study, the actual participants for the DNA project is open to males only. The test is done on the Y chromosome, which only males have, and the Y-chromosome is passed from father to son, along with the surname. Therefore, only males can participate. To do so, click on "Join the Group" to the left.

Women and men can sponsor a male. We can get more and better results if we can offer "scholarships" to the participants. There are two ways to do this:

1) To donate to the project without a specific person in mind, simply click on the "Contribute to the General Fund" link found to the left on this page.
2) To pay for a particular person, click on the "Join The Project" link to the left and fill in the blanks. Note that you can fill your own credit card information in the appropriate blanks.

If you need scholarship aid, please email me at egoli@telus.net

Note that the DNA test consists of two buccal swabs, and the kit is delivered to you through the mail.