Q: My neighbor's baby was born with round blood cells that break easily. What is this condition? A: It sounds like you are describing hereditary spherocytosis (HS). This is an inherited condition where one of several genetic defects (at least five genes have been identified) cause the red blood cells (RBC’s, they carry oxygen to the body’s cells) to have a defect in one or more protein in their cell membrane that causes them to [...]