Document:

AMENDMENT NO. 3
                                    TO
                        CHANGE OF CONTROL AGREEMENT

     This  Amendment No. 3 to Change of Control Agreement is made as of the
21st day of  September,  1999,  by and between Stewart Enterprises, Inc., a
Louisiana  corporation  (the  "Company"),  and  Lawrence  B.  Hawkins  (the
"Employee").

                           W I T N E S S E T H:

     WHEREAS, the Company has entered  into  a  Change of Control Agreement
with the Employee dated as of December 5, 1995 as  amended by Amendment No.
1 to Change of Control Agreement dated as of January  1, 1997 and Amendment
No.  2  to  Change of Control Agreement dated as of November  1,  1998  (as
amended, the "Change of Control Agreement"); and

     WHEREAS,  the  Company and the Employee have agreed to a change in the
Employee's salary and bonus.

     NOW THEREFORE, the Company and the Employee agree as follows:

     SECTION 1.  CHANGE  OF CONTROL AGREEMENT.  Except as expressly amended
herein, all of the terms and  provisions of the Change of Control Agreement
shall remain in full force and effect.

     SECTION 2.  AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE  I,  SECTION 1.1.  Article I, Section
1.1 of the Change of Control Agreement is hereby  amended  to  read  in its
entirety as follows:

          1.1   EMPLOYMENT  AGREEMENT.   After  a  Change  of  Control
     (defined  below),   this   Agreement  supersedes  the  Employment
     Agreement dated as of August  1, 1995 as amended by Amendment No.
     1  dated as of January 1, 1997,  Amendment  No.  2  dated  as  of
     October  31,  1998  and Amendment No. 3 dated as of September 21,
     1999,  between  Employee   and   the   Company  (the  "Employment
     Agreement") except to the extent that certain  provisions  of the
     Employment  Agreement  are  expressly  incorporated  by reference
     herein.    After   a  Change  of  Control  (defined  below),  the
     definitions  in  this  Agreement  supersede  definitions  in  the
     Employment Agreement,  but  capitalized terms not defined in this
     Agreement  have the meanings given  to  them  in  the  Employment
     Agreement.

     SECTION 3.  AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE II, SECTION 2.2.  Article II, Section
2.2, paragraphs (a)  and  (b) of the Change of Control Agreement are hereby
amended to read in their entirety as follows:

          (a)  SALARY.   A salary  ("Base  Salary")  at  the  rate  of
     $265,000 per year, payable  to  the Employee at such intervals no
     less frequent than the most frequent  intervals  in effect at any
     time during the 120-day period immediately preceding  the  Change
     of  Control  or, if more favorable to the Employee, the intervals
     in effect at any  time after the Change of Control for other peer
     employees of the Company and its affiliated companies.

          (b) BONUS.  An  annual  incentive  bonus  (the  "Bonus")  of
     $270,000,   to   the   extent   not   already   received,   shall
     be   paid   in  cash  (1)   no   later  than   November   30   of

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     each year or (2) if the  Employee  elects  to  receive  the  Bonus
     in the  calendar  year  following the year in which it was earned,
     between January 1 and January 15 of such following year.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this  Amendment  to
be duly executed and signed as of the date indicated above.

                                   STEWART ENTERPRISES, INC.

                                   By: /S/ James W. McFarland
                                      ---------------------------------
                                        James W. McFarland
                                        Compensation Committee Chairman

                                   EMPLOYEE:

                                   /s/ Lawrence B. Hawkins
                                   --------------------------------------
                                         Lawrence B. Hawkins

                                    -2-<PAGE>

                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.23

                               TAKE-OUT AGREEMENT

     THIS TAKE-OUT AGREEMENT (this "Agreement") is made as of May 19, 2000, by
and between Transgenomic, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Company") and
Nebraska State Bank, a Nebraska corporation (the "Lender").

     WHEREAS, SD Acquisition, Inc. (the "Borrower") has acquired certain assets
of the Company pursuant to the terms and conditions of an Asset Purchase
Agreement of even date herewith; and

     WHEREAS, the Borrower has borrowed in the aggregate $4,635,000 from the
Lender pursuant to the terms and conditions of those certain loan agreements
(the "Loan Agreements") of even date herewith (the "Loans");

     WHEREAS, each of the Loans is guarantied by the personal guarantee of
Stephen and Nancy Dwyer (the "Dwyers"), which guarantee is secured by the pledge
or hypothecation of 750,000 shares of the Company's common stock beneficially
held by the Dwyers (the "Shares");

     WHEREAS, the Company has filed with the Commission (as defined below) a
registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-32174) with respect to the
offering of shares of its common stock (the "Initial Public Offering") and in
connection therewith will register the Shares with the Commission; and,

     WHEREAS, concurrent with the completion of the Initial Public Offering, the
Company has agreed to purchase the Loans in an amount equal to the unpaid
principal balances thereof, together with accrued interest.

     NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing, the parties agree as
follows:

1.   CERTAIN DEFINITIONS. As used in this Agreement, the following terms shall
     have the following respective meanings:

     "Closing Date" shall mean the date of closing of the Initial Public
Offering.

     "Commission" shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission of the
United States or any other U.S. federal agency at the time administering the
Securities Act.

     "Common Stock" means the common stock of the Company.

     "Participating Lenders" means the Lender and any other financial
institution participating in the Loans.

<PAGE>

     The terms "register", "registered" and "registration" refer to a
registration effected by preparing and filing a registration statement in
compliance with the Securities Act, and the declaration or ordering of the
effectiveness of such registration statement.

     "Registration Expenses" shall mean all expenses, except as otherwise stated
below, incurred by the Company in complying with Section 3 hereof, including,
without limitation, all registration, qualification and filing fees, listing
application fees, printing expenses, escrow fees, fees and disbursements of
counsel for the Company, Blue Sky fees and expenses and the expense of any
special audits incident to or required by any such registration (but excluding
the compensation of regular employees of the Company which shall be paid in any
event by the Company).

     "Securities Act" shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the
rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, or any similar United States
federal statute.

     "Selling Expenses" shall mean all underwriting discounts, selling
commissions and stock transfer taxes applicable to the securities registered
hereby.

2.   SALE OF LOANS.

     (a)  On and subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the
          Lender for itself and as agent for, or predecessor in interest of,
          each Participating Lender, hereby agrees to transfer, sell, convey and
          assign to the Company, and the Company agrees to purchase from the
          Participating Lenders, on the Closing Date all of the Participating
          Lenders's respective rights and interests in the Loans. The purchase
          of the Loans by the Company is conditioned upon the closing of the
          Initial Public Offering and the Company agrees that the underwriting
          agreement for the Initial Public Offering will provide that the
          closing of the Initial Public Offering is conditioned upon the
          Company's performance of its obligations hereunder. The Company shall
          use its best efforts to cause the closing of the Initial Public
          Offering to occur within sixty (60) days from the date of this
          Agreement.

     (b)  The purchase price of the Loans shall be equal to the unpaid principal
          balances of the Loans, together with all accrued, but unpaid, interest
          thereon as of the Closing Date. The purchase price shall be paid by
          wire transfer to such account or accounts as the Lender may designate
          and shall be allocated amongst the Participating Lenders in accordance
          with their respective interest in the Loans.

     (c)  At the closing of the transactions contemplated in this Section 2,
          each of the Participating Lenders shall deliver to the Company (i)
          such assignments, notices, termination statements and any other
          documents as may be reaonsonably requested by the Company to effect
          the transactions contemplated herein and (ii) all collateral held by
          the Participating Lenders, or any of them, securing the Loans or any
          guaranties of the Loans.

3.   REGISTRATION OF SHARES.

                                       2

<PAGE>

     (a)  The Shares shall be included in the registration statement on Form S-1
          filed in connection with the Initial Public Offering.

     (b)  Upon request of a majority in interest of the Participating Lenders or
          of the beneficial holders of the Shares, the Shares shall be listed on
          The National Market of The Nasdaq Stock Market, or such other market
          or exchange as the Common Stock may then be listed.

     (c)  The Company shall not have the right to terminate or withdraw any
          registration statement contemplated in this Section 3 prior to the
          effectiveness of such registration statement without the consent of
          all of the Participating Lenders.

4.   EXPENSES OF REGISTRATION.

     (a)  Registration Expenses. The Company shall bear all Registration
          Expenses incurred in connection with the registration pursuant to
          Section 3.

     (b)  Selling Expenses. Unless otherwise stated, all Selling Expenses, if
          any, relating to securities registered pursuant to Section 3 shall be
          borne by the beneficial holders thereof pro rata on the basis of the
          number of shares so registered.

5.   MISCELLANEOUS.

     (a)  Governing Law. This Agreement will be governed by and construed under
          the laws of Nebraska as applied to agreements among Nebraska residents
          entered into and to be performed entirely within Nebraska.

     (b)  Amendments and Waivers. Any term of this Agreement may be amended and
          the observance of any term of this Agreement may be waived (either
          generally or in a particular instance and either retroactively or
          prospectively), only with the written consent of all the parties
          hereto.

     (c)  Severability. In the event that any provision of this Agreement
          becomes or is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be
          illegally invalid, unenforceable or void, this Agreement shall
          continue in full force and effect without said provision. In such
          event, the parties shall negotiate, in good faith, a legal, valid and
          binding substitute provision which most nearly effects the intent of
          the parties in entering into this Agreement.

     (d)  Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of
          counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of
          which together will constitute one and the same instrument.

     (e)  Titles and Subtitles. The titles and subtitles used in this Agreement
          are used for convenience only and are not to be considered in
          construing or interpreting this Agreement.

                                       3

<PAGE>

     (f)  Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement of
          the parties with respect to the subject matter and supersedes all
          other understandings, oral or written, with respect to the subject
          matter hereof.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the date
first above written.

TRANSGENOMIC, INC.                        NEBRASKA STATE BANK

By: /s/ Collin D'Silva                    By: /s/ Wayne Kehrli
    ---------------------------------         -------------------------------

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