Life Ascending and the evolution of death

Over the Christmas break, I read an incredible book recommended by my biology and culture professor called "Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution" by the biochemist Nick Lane.  It was the most insightful and riveting book I've read since Sean Carroll's Endless Forms Most Beautiful (which I recently reread so more on that later.)  While Carroll focused on hox expression patterns and morphological homologies that run deep in the tree of life, this book builds on these same principles from the perspective of a cell biologist.  Lane dedicates one chapter each to 10 of the deepest and most profound mysteries of evolution.
I just read the last chapter which was about programmed cell death aka apoptosis.  My developmental biology class last year focused on this phenomenon as it relates to sculpting body plans.  However, Lane's treatment of the phenomenon went much deeper.  Programmed cell death occurs in cyanobacteria.  Not surprisingly, apoptosis in eukaryotes is controlled by our mitchondria who almost certainly share an ancestor with cyanobacteria.  Although we may think of cell differentiation as a phenomenon unique to multicellular eukaryotes, it has roots in these humble bacteria.  Although all of the bacteria in a colony are almost genetically identical, those on the edges develop flagella that help to move the entire colony.  Also, in response to the environment and cues from other cells, some cells may undergo apoptosis for the good of the colony thereby ensuring that their own genes are passed on.  True multicellular organisms could not have evolved without a mechanism for programmed cell death.
What does this mean for death in general?  Lane points out that medical research that focuses on the minute details of every old age related diseases may be futile.  "Death evolved.  Aging evolved.  They evolved for pragmatic reasons."  He warns that "medical researchers are either unaware of evolutionary thinking or uninterested. If nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution, ...the modern view of disease holds no meaning whatsoever."  Lane argues passionately that research should focus on the underlying evolutionary mechanisms of aging.  If we don't understand these underlying mechanisms, we will never solve any of the age related diseases.  On the other hand, if we do achieve an evolutionary synthesis, we have the potential of curing them all at the same time!