diff --git a/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/VKmerBytesWritable.java b/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/VKmerBytesWritable.java
index af5b2ed..17132e4 100644
--- a/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/VKmerBytesWritable.java
+++ b/genomix/genomix-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/type/VKmerBytesWritable.java
@@ -665,5 +665,37 @@
         }
         return new KmerBytesWritable(bytes, kmerStartOffset);
     }
+        
+    public static int editDistance(VKmerBytesWritable kmer1, VKmerBytesWritable kmer2) {
+    	int rows = kmer1.getKmerLetterLength() + 1, columns = kmer2.getKmerLetterLength() + 1, r=0, c=0, match=0;
+    	int[][] distMat = new int[rows][columns];
+    	
+    	// initialize top row and left column
+    	for (r = 0; r < rows; r++) {
+    		distMat[r][0] = r;
+    	}
+    	for (c = 0; c < columns; c++) {
+    		distMat[0][c] = c;
+    	}
+    	
+    	// fill out the matrix as the min of left+1, up+1, and diag+nomatch
+    	for (r = 1; r < rows; r++) {
+    		for (c = 1; c < columns; c++) {
+    			match = kmer1.getGeneCodeAtPosition(r-1) == kmer2.getGeneCodeAtPosition(c-1) ? 0 : 1;
+    			distMat[r][c] = min(distMat[r-1][c] + 1,
+    								distMat[r][c-1] + 1,
+    								distMat[r-1][c-1] + match);
+    		}
+    	}
+    	return distMat[rows - 1][columns - 1];
+    }
+    
+    private static int min(int a, int b, int c) {
+    	return a <= b ? (a <= c ? a : c) : (b <= c ? b : c);
+    }
+    
+    public int editDistance(VKmerBytesWritable other) {
+    	return editDistance(this, other);
+    }
 
 }
diff --git a/genomix/genomix-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/data/test/VKmerBytesWritableTest.java b/genomix/genomix-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/data/test/VKmerBytesWritableTest.java
index 4a52558..850d24f 100644
--- a/genomix/genomix-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/data/test/VKmerBytesWritableTest.java
+++ b/genomix/genomix-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/genomix/data/test/VKmerBytesWritableTest.java
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
         String string = "AGCTGACCGT";
         for (int k = 3; k <= 10; k++) {
             VKmerBytesWritable kmer = new VKmerBytesWritable();
-            VKmerBytesWritable kmerAppend = new VKmerBytesWritable();
+            VKmerBytesWritable kmerAppend = new VKmerBytesWritable(k);
             kmer.setByRead(k, array, 0);
             Assert.assertEquals(string.substring(0, k), kmer.toString());
             for (int b = 0; b < k; b++) {
@@ -554,5 +554,22 @@
         System.out.println("CTA = " + map.get(kmerList.getPosition(0)).toString());
         System.out.println("GTA = " + map.get(kmerList.getPosition(1)).toString());
     }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void TestEditDistance() {
+    	VKmerBytesWritable kmer1 = new VKmerBytesWritable("ACGT");
+    	VKmerBytesWritable kmer2 = new VKmerBytesWritable("AAAACGT");
+    	
+    	Assert.assertEquals(kmer1.editDistance(kmer2), 3);
+    	Assert.assertEquals(kmer1.editDistance(kmer2), kmer2.editDistance(kmer1));
+    	
+    	kmer1.setAsCopy("");
+    	Assert.assertEquals(kmer1.editDistance(kmer2), kmer2.getKmerLetterLength());
+    	Assert.assertEquals(kmer1.editDistance(kmer2), kmer2.editDistance(kmer1));
+    	
+    	kmer2.setAsCopy("");
+    	Assert.assertEquals(kmer1.editDistance(kmer2), kmer2.getKmerLetterLength());
+    	Assert.assertEquals(kmer1.editDistance(kmer2), kmer2.editDistance(kmer1));
+    }
 
 }