Well, I've spent the last two years doing research full time and I did considerable amounts of research while in undergrad. I am a Research Tech, which requires a BS or lots of comparable experience in the field. I'm not sure what position you want to be, but my job basically entails actually carrying out the experiments that the PhD, whose lab it is, wants done. If you want to do more, obviously you'll want to go to grad school and get a PhD. It's actually pretty hard to break into research if you don't have a background in it. If you are close to a university, I'd recommend volunteering at a lab that is willing to teach you stuff. This is also a good idea because research is definitely not for everyone and you need to be certain it is what you want. If you have a bleeding heart for animals, it probably isn't what you want. Also, another point of research is that things rarely go smoothly and easily and you don't get to see the results of your labor immediately. The main point is just to get whatever experience you can.
Hope this helps.
