The government must listen to and value scientific advice if it is to respond appropriately to humanitarian emergencies, MPs have been told.

Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, who was giving evidence to the Science and Technology Select Committee, highlighted the role of the scientific adviser in government departments and praised the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for appointing its first scientific adviser, David Clary, in 2009.

Professor Walport said: “Having scientific advisers is good news. But it’s better news if scientific advisers have a high profile role and are taken seriously.”

He was asked by Conservative MP Stephen Mosley how the government should sort the “wheat from …