> genetically modified organisms can't be released into the wild until proven safe, but genetically modified colonies can't be properly evaluated while confined in labs (Catch-22)

Sure they can - BASF Plant Science, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer, and Syngenta all had GMO test farms on the island of Kauai, one of the Hawaiian islands, since 2010.  The State has been trying to get them off the island, and Maui and the Big Island both banned GMOs outright, and lost in both federal district court and at the Ninth Circuit court of appeals in 2016.

Tom Seeley did a number of bee studies on Appledore Island, off the coast of Maine, 5 mines due east of Rye Beach, because it was bee-free. But it is within a mile or so of Smuttynose Island, Cedar Island, and Star Island, so I am not sure it would be appropriate for the testing of "GMO Bees".  That said, I've yet to have any bee cross the Hudson River from NJ back home to Manhattan, despite multiple attempts using several hundred verified returning foragers captured from "entrance airlocks", marked, well fed, and released with care.

In January of 2022, US law started to allow a new "Bioengineered" label for companies who wanted to promote GMOs without having to use the term "GMO", as the term is an anathema. 

But the US FDA still does not allow labels that say things like "GM-free," "GMO-Free" or "biotech-free." The FDA said what should have been the quiet part out loud, explaining that guaranteeing a product to be free of GM material is virtually impossible.  But labels can say a food was "not produced through bioengineering".   

The depressing part is that the FDA may be right about it being virtually impossible to have any food be truly GMO-free, but despite the FDAs assurances that GMOs are safe, consumers are demanding the right to make informed decisions about what they eat, which transcends the "safety" argument.

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