EXHIBIT 99.1

99.1      Press Release dated July 17, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - US1 HEALTH


COMPANY PRESS RELEASE

Transgenomic, Inc. Announces Initial Public Offering of Common Stock


OMAHA, NE, July 17, 2000. Transgenomic, Inc. (Nasdaq: TBIO) today announced its
initial public offering of 4,480,000 shares of common stock at an initial public
offering price of $15 per share. This offering has been increased from the
original filing of 4,000,000 shares at an offering price range of $12 to $14 per
share. All of the shares are being offered by Transgenomic. The shares will
trade on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "TBIO."

Chase H&Q, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., and Dain Rauscher Wessels are acting as the
underwriters for the offering. Transgenomic has granted the underwriters an
option to purchase up to an additional 672,000 shares of common stock at the
initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with and
declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This announcement
shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the
common stock of Transgenomic, nor shall there be any sales of these securities
in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would
be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of
any such state or jurisdiction. Copies of the final prospectus related to the
offering may be obtained from Chase H&Q, One Bush Street, San Francisco, CA
94104, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., 245 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10167, and Dain
Rasucher Wessels, 60 South Sixth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402.

Transgenomic provides innovative research tools to the genomics segment of the
life sciences industry. These tools enable researchers to discover and
understand variation in the human genetic code, or genome, in order to
accelerate and improve drug development and diagnostics. We believe our WAVE
System will become a leading tool to analyze genetic mutations. The WAVE System
allows researchers to analyze both known and unknown genetic mutations faster,
with more accuracy and at a lower cost than other commercially available
techniques.

As efforts to sequence the human genome near completion, understanding
variations in the genetic sequence, or mutation analysis, is becoming the vital
link to the development of new drug products and diagnostics. By comparing
genetic mutations in the genome to the occurrence of diseases or particular
traits, correlation can be made between genes and specific diseases or traits.
The WAVE System, unlike tools employing more conventional technologies, can
detect these genetic mutations without previous knowledge of their existence or
position. As a result,



the WAVE System provides researchers a more accurate and efficient means of
performing the experiments necessary to identify mutations and to correlate the
relationships between mutations and diseases.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such statements are
subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to in
such statements. These risks are identified in Transgenomic's registration
statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-32174) filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Accordingly, the Company claims the protection of the safe
harbor for forward looking statements contained in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all such forward looking
statements..

SOURCE: TRANSGENOMIC, INC.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
BILL RASMUSSEN
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
TRANSGENOMIC, INC.
402-733-2829
FAX:  402-733-1264