Junior Researcher. Salary: $40,000 or less

You just got done spending eight years writing papers, and now it feels like you're spending eight years a day reading the papers of others. Day after day, you pour over the work of better geneticists, hoping that some day you'll be the one inflicting this pain on someone else.

Legal Consultant. Salary: $62,320

After reading about the legal hullaballoo surrounding the patenting of human genes, your little enterprising mind revved up and led you to join a firm specializing in the law of genetics. It's a new realm, to be certain, but you're thinking it will expand soon. Well...you're hoping it will, anyway.

Genetic Counselor. Salary: $74,504

Your mother was a carnival fortuneteller, and you decided long ago that you probably genetically inherited her interest in telling others what's in store for them. The only problem was that you never believed in the hocus pocus stuff. So, instead, you became a genetic counselor, where you spend your days analyzing people's genes, and predicting their future health. Telling people they probably won't get cancer is just about as great as telling people they probably will get cancer isn't.

Genetic Clinician. Salary: $160,800

You work at a massive hospital where you try to expand upon patients' diagnoses by researching their genetic history. You carry a cane and pretend to be Dr. House, like, 80% of the time. Your co-workers pretty much hate you, but who cares. You know you're funny.

Pharmaceutical Research Big Wig. Salary $300,001

Your old classmates say that you're a sellout for working the private sector—big pharma, no less. Too bad you can't hear the gossip from so far out at sea. Aboard your massive yacht. As far as you're concerned, your research still helps people. A whole load of people. So what if a few people get rich along the way? Especially if one of those people is you.