The central objective of the 2013 Myogenesis Gordon Conference entitled "Myogenesis: Mechanisms and Models" is to stimulate discussion, scientific exchange and insight into the genetic, epigenetic, functional and environmental factors affecting muscle formation and repair during development and disease. The Conference participants will place an emphasis on presentation of new, unpublished research on a wide range of topics including muscle stem cells, transcriptional and epigenetic control of muscle specification and differentiation, cell biological mechanisms controlling myogenesis, early muscle development and morphogenesis, interactions between muscle and surrounding cells/tissues, regulation of muscle size, evolutionary diversity of muscle, muscle regeneration and disease. Invited speakers will exploit interdisciplinary approaches that utilize cell and molecular biology, genetics and epigenetics, diverse animal models, advanced imaging techniques, and systems biology. The Conference will bring together the leaders in the field to exchange ideas with junior scientists and graduate students who will present their work at poster sessions and short talks chosen from the abstracts. The traditionally collegial atmosphere of this Conference, provision of ample discussion time within the sessions as well as informal gatherings in the afternoons, social events and around posters, maximizes the opportunity for advances through cross-fertilization of ideas, new approaches and emerging themes in this rapidly moving field.