The Rochester clinic has agreed to partner its research efforts with the country in the hopes of speeding up medical breakthroughs. Mayo Clinic already had research agreements with companies in Sweden and the Czech Republic.

A heartbeat monitoring system that allows doctors to monitor a patient's heartbeat from a mobile device was FDA approved Monday. The device was developed by Minnesota-based Preventice in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic. Mayo cardiologists say the new technology should allow doctors to identify problems earlier by monitoring patients outside the hospital.

Two Mayo Clinic researchers spent 10 days conducting physical tests on themselves and about 20 climbers at the base camp for Mt. Everest. The testing at 17,500 feet sheds light on how the body reacts to high altitudes, which mimics conditions that patients suffer from heart disease, obesity and aging.

The partnership between the University of Minnesota, Hormel Foundation and the Mayo Clinic aims to pool their resources together to create a comprehensive research institute -- primarily focusing on cancer.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic say heart attacks in Olmsted County dropped by one-third after Minnesota adopted a law banning smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants. The leader of Mayo's study tells Reuters other risk factors -- cholesterol, blood pressure, obesity -- stayed the same, leaving the reduction in second hand smoke as the apparent explanation for the decline.

An obesity expert at Mayo Clinic has gotten behind New York City's controversial new ban on sugary beverages in containers bigger than 16 ounces, the Rochester Post-Bulletin reports. “Understandably, people don’t like being told what to eat, but a limit like that isn’t unreasonable,” Dr. Donald Hensrud, a Mayo endocrinologist, says.