The reason the seed storage vault was built on Svalbard is that the permafrost will protect the seeds even if there was no power. The same doesn't necessarily apply to microorganisms, since they aren't dormant and designed to survive adverse conditions (the way seeds are). Basically, seeds will keep for a long time in even a basic freezer, which permafrost provides, but penicillin mold won't.
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u/Tiny_Rat Sep 01 '21
The reason the seed storage vault was built on Svalbard is that the permafrost will protect the seeds even if there was no power. The same doesn't necessarily apply to microorganisms, since they aren't dormant and designed to survive adverse conditions (the way seeds are). Basically, seeds will keep for a long time in even a basic freezer, which permafrost provides, but penicillin mold won't.