@WilliamBlake I don't know about this particular example of the eye (which is wild), but Michael Levin has been working on bioelectricity as a means of changing organism body plan, and enhancing regeneration of removed limbs (as in salamanders): https://www.bitsofwonder.co/p/a-revolution-in-biology
Wikipedia has some more elaboration:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_bioelectricity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_pattern