I once asked this of a first-year biology professor, who had been brought up thoroughly English and spoke of "Watson" and "Crick" strands, greatly confusing those of us who knew only of coding and template (or anti-coding) strands. Her response was that I was very clever and possibly after her heart—but I think I finally have an answer.

The Franklin strand is henceforth any RNA product produced from DNA. To the first people who reviewed it, it may appear derivative and less significant, but historically it came first, and, on closer examination, does all the actual work.

And while we're at it: it cuts out all of the extraneous asides, and gets right down to the point.