diff --git a/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/NodeWritable.java b/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/NodeWritable.java
index df4e755..5c2a212 100644
--- a/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/NodeWritable.java
+++ b/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/NodeWritable.java
@@ -131,5 +131,12 @@
         sbuilder.append(kmer.toString()).append(')');
         return sbuilder.toString();
     }
+    
+    /*
+     * Return if this node is a "path" compressible node, that is, it has an in-degree and out-degree of 1 
+     */
+    public boolean isPathNode() {
+        return incomingList.getCountOfPosition() == 1 && outgoingList.getCountOfPosition() == 1;
+    }
 
 }