diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b0785f2..b59fa8d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -122,27 +122,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "byte-strings"
-version = "0.1.3"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "252ec070bc6db225f08a3cf614d2ce361e3d0d0ca0aa798ef66b116afd01ffe4"
-dependencies = [
- "byte-strings-proc-macro",
- "cfg-if 0.1.10",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "byte-strings-proc-macro"
-version = "0.1.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f7085f61338b897099839049301aa125aae59365e7ac4d71593ca9a1812c8d55"
-dependencies = [
- "cfg-if 0.1.10",
- "quote 0.6.13",
- "syn 0.15.44",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "bytecount"
 version = "0.6.2"
@@ -155,12 +134,6 @@ version = "1.4.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "14c189c53d098945499cdfa7ecc63567cf3886b3332b312a5b4585d8d3a6a610"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "cfg-if"
-version = "0.1.10"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "4785bdd1c96b2a846b2bd7cc02e86b6b3dbf14e7e53446c4f54c92a361040822"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "cfg-if"
 version = "1.0.0"
@@ -173,7 +146,7 @@ version = "0.5.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "06ed27e177f16d65f0f0c22a213e17c696ace5dd64b14258b52f9417ccb52db4"
 dependencies = [
- "cfg-if 1.0.0",
+ "cfg-if",
  "crossbeam-utils",
 ]
 
@@ -183,7 +156,7 @@ version = "0.8.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "6455c0ca19f0d2fbf751b908d5c55c1f5cbc65e03c4225427254b46890bdde1e"
 dependencies = [
- "cfg-if 1.0.0",
+ "cfg-if",
  "crossbeam-epoch",
  "crossbeam-utils",
 ]
@@ -194,7 +167,7 @@ version = "0.9.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "4ec02e091aa634e2c3ada4a392989e7c3116673ef0ac5b72232439094d73b7fd"
 dependencies = [
- "cfg-if 1.0.0",
+ "cfg-if",
  "crossbeam-utils",
  "lazy_static",
  "memoffset",
@@ -207,7 +180,7 @@ version = "0.8.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d82cfc11ce7f2c3faef78d8a684447b40d503d9681acebed6cb728d45940c4db"
 dependencies = [
- "cfg-if 1.0.0",
+ "cfg-if",
  "lazy_static",
 ]
 
@@ -245,9 +218,9 @@ version = "0.5.9"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "3418329ca0ad70234b9735dc4ceed10af4df60eff9c8e7b06cb5e520d92c3535"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "syn 1.0.76",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -271,9 +244,9 @@ version = "0.6.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "84278eae0af6e34ff6c1db44c11634a694aafac559ff3080e4db4e4ac35907aa"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "syn 1.0.76",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -309,7 +282,7 @@ version = "0.2.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7fcd999463524c52659517fe2cea98493cfe485d10565e7b0fb07dbba7ad2753"
 dependencies = [
- "cfg-if 1.0.0",
+ "cfg-if",
  "libc",
  "wasi",
 ]
@@ -321,9 +294,9 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "24b328c01a4d71d2d8173daa93562a73ab0fe85616876f02500f53d82948c504"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro-error",
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "syn 1.0.76",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -389,7 +362,6 @@ name = "krust"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "bio",
- "byte-strings",
  "rayon",
 ]
 
@@ -468,9 +440,9 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "01fcc0b8149b4632adc89ac3b7b31a12fb6099a0317a4eb2ebff574ef7de7218"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "syn 1.0.76",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -583,9 +555,9 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "da25490ff9892aab3fcf7c36f08cfb902dd3e71ca0f9f9517bea02a73a5ce38c"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro-error-attr",
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "syn 1.0.76",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
  "version_check",
 ]
 
@@ -595,36 +567,18 @@ version = "1.0.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a1be40180e52ecc98ad80b184934baf3d0d29f979574e439af5a55274b35f869"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
  "version_check",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "proc-macro2"
-version = "0.4.30"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "cf3d2011ab5c909338f7887f4fc896d35932e29146c12c8d01da6b22a80ba759"
-dependencies = [
- "unicode-xid 0.1.0",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
 version = "1.0.29"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b9f5105d4fdaab20335ca9565e106a5d9b82b6219b5ba735731124ac6711d23d"
 dependencies = [
- "unicode-xid 0.2.2",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "quote"
-version = "0.6.13"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "6ce23b6b870e8f94f81fb0a363d65d86675884b34a09043c81e5562f11c1f8e1"
-dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 0.4.30",
+ "unicode-xid",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -633,7 +587,7 @@ version = "1.0.9"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "c3d0b9745dc2debf507c8422de05d7226cc1f0644216dfdfead988f9b1ab32a7"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
+ "proc-macro2",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -782,9 +736,9 @@ version = "1.0.130"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d7bc1a1ab1961464eae040d96713baa5a724a8152c1222492465b54322ec508b"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "syn 1.0.76",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -825,9 +779,9 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "ee8bc6b87a5112aeeab1f4a9f7ab634fe6cbefc4850006df31267f4cfb9e3149"
 dependencies = [
  "heck",
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "syn 1.0.76",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -837,20 +791,9 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d06aaeeee809dbc59eb4556183dd927df67db1540de5be8d3ec0b6636358a5ec"
 dependencies = [
  "heck",
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "syn 1.0.76",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "syn"
-version = "0.15.44"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9ca4b3b69a77cbe1ffc9e198781b7acb0c7365a883670e8f1c1bc66fba79a5c5"
-dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 0.4.30",
- "quote 0.6.13",
- "unicode-xid 0.1.0",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -859,9 +802,9 @@ version = "1.0.76"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "c6f107db402c2c2055242dbf4d2af0e69197202e9faacbef9571bbe47f5a1b84"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "unicode-xid 0.2.2",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "unicode-xid",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -879,9 +822,9 @@ version = "1.0.29"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "bad553cc2c78e8de258400763a647e80e6d1b31ee237275d756f6836d204494c"
 dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2 1.0.29",
- "quote 1.0.9",
- "syn 1.0.76",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -902,12 +845,6 @@ version = "1.8.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8895849a949e7845e06bd6dc1aa51731a103c42707010a5b591c0038fb73385b"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "unicode-xid"
-version = "0.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "fc72304796d0818e357ead4e000d19c9c174ab23dc11093ac919054d20a6a7fc"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-xid"
 version = "0.2.2"
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 4316758..c716eeb 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use bio::{alignment::sparse::hash_kmers, alphabets::dna::revcomp, io::fasta};
 use rayon::prelude::*;
-use std::{collections::HashMap, env, error::Error, fs::File, io::Write, str, time::Instant};
+use std::{collections::{HashMap, HashSet}, env, error::Error, fs::File, io::Write, str, time::Instant};
 
 pub struct Config {
     pub kmer_len: usize,
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ pub fn hash_fasta_rec(
 
     let mut new_hashmap = HashMap::new();
 
-    for (kmer, kmer_pos) in hash_kmers(result_data.seq(), k) {
+    for (kmer, kmer_pos) in hash_kmers(result_data.seq(), k) { // rust-bio's hash_kmers function, returns iterator of tuples (&[u8], Vec<u32>), the Vec being a list of indices of positions of kmer. 
         new_hashmap.insert(kmer, kmer_pos.len());
     }
     new_hashmap
@@ -49,19 +49,36 @@ pub fn run(config: Config) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
 
     let fasta_records: Vec<Result<fasta::Record, std::io::Error>> = reader.records().collect();
 
-    let hash_vec: Vec<HashMap<&[u8], usize>> = fasta_records
+    let mut hash_vec: Vec<HashMap<&[u8], usize>> = fasta_records
         .par_iter()
         .map(|result| hash_fasta_rec(result, k))
         .collect();
-
+    
     let hash_duration = start.elapsed();
 
     eprintln!(
         "Time elapsed creating hashmaps of all kmers in all sequences: {:?}\n",
         hash_duration
     );
+    // merging hashmaps
+    //eprintln!("length of hash_vec now: {}", hash_vec.len());
+    
+    let mut hash_len_vec = HashSet::new(); // create set of number of kmers 
+    
+    for h in &hash_vec {
+	hash_len_vec.insert(h.len());
+    }
+    //eprintln!("hashmap lengths: {:?}", hash_len_vec);
+
+    let longest_len = hash_len_vec.iter().max().unwrap();
+    
+    let i = &hash_vec.iter().position(|h| h.len() == *longest_len).unwrap();
+
+    let mut final_hash = hash_vec.remove(*i);
+
+    //eprintln!("this is the hash we're basing off: {:?}", final_hash);
 
-    let mut final_hash = HashMap::new();
+    //eprintln!("length of hash_vec post removal: {}", hash_vec.len());
 
     hash_vec.into_iter().for_each(|h| {
         for (kmer, freq) in h {