What is the soul? Is it genetically encoded in our DNA or the product of centuries of religious teachings dealing with our mortality?

Secrets of the Soul takes an all encompassing look at the search for the soul, from the faithful who seek to touch it to the scientists who investigate its reality. This two-hour documentary special explores the western belief in the soul as way of understanding the afterlife, and the eastern concept that it is energy recycled through reincarnation.

Scientists have long sought to confirm the reality of the soul since Dr. Duncan McDougall's first documented attempt to weigh it at the moment of death. Secrets of the Soul focuses on contemporary researchers looking at medium-ship, past lives, and Near Death Experiences for evidence of survival of consciousness after death as a way of verifying the soul's existence.

Secrets of the Soul provides a window into the provocative question of what happens when we die? Many believe that something transcends our physical body- for some there might be a scientific answer, for others it's simply a matter of faith.

• Bonus interview footage