Cyclops has been a staple character of Marvel's X-Men comics and the franchise as a whole since the very beginning. During the early days of the comic series first created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and Werner Roth, a special feature was made after the 43rd issue, detailing the specific way in which Cyclops' mutant ability (his optic blasts), work. Remarkably, it has a lot of similarities to DC Comics' Superman and his powers, albeit slightly odder.
Many DC Comics fans know that Superman powers come from the sun. Specifically Earth's yellow sun which is different than the red son of his homeworld Krypton. On Krypton, Superman wouldn't have the powers he does on Earth. His cells absorb the yellow sun's radiation, which is what grants him his powers of speed, strength, flight, and so forth. Coincidentally enough, Superman also has laser vision like Cyclops. While the special Cyclops feature in X-Men #43 revealed that the same is true for Cyclops, there's a little more to it, and it's pretty strange.
X-Men #43 breaks down Cyclops' optical power that his activated X-gene (the gene that results in mutation) grants him. Essentially, Cyclops' optic blasts come from the power of the sun too, just like Superman. However, it's just his eyes that take in the energy. The issue describes it as a process akin to plants and photosynthesis, which is weird to think about. Scott Summers' eyes are also compared to batteries, that they store the energy and become depleted once determines to expel that energy in an optic blast while saving the day as Cyclops. It is also interesting to note that the issue claims that as the teenage superhero ages, his eyes will improve, and subsequently, his ability to store more energy for blasts will increase, allowing for stronger and/or longer blasts. Does this mean that once Scott Summer's ages past his primes, that his eyes will begin to deteriorate and likewise, his ability to deliver optic blasts? Will they get weaker? Perhaps that's for a comic story down the line.
It's also humorous to note that at the time of this issue's publication, creators Lee, Thomas, and Roth didn't have all the answers fans were asking about the character. While they created the means and process for how Scott gets his powers, there were other explanations for certain things they had yet to figure out at that point, such as Cyclops' visor. Many fans were probably curious at the time as to why his visor made of ruby quartz was able to protect Scott and others when he opened his eyes. Lee and company made a note in the issue itself that they would let readers know as soon as they figured it out themselves. (Marvel readers now know that the ruby quartz resonates at the same psionic frequency that protects Cyclops and his brother Havok from their own powers.)
In any case, the knowledge that Cyclops' eyes have more in common with plants than actual eyes is a weird factoid of Cyclops' character, but doesn't negate his impressive power by any means. Hopefully, Scott's eyes will continue to be healthy and strong for years to come so he can continue to fight alongside the X-Men, as it's doubtful the local eye doctor would be able to help him if his eyes were ever to worsen. Laser surgery would probably be ineffective...